Rental makes clear commitment to sustainability the world over

Sunbelt Rentals’ initiative “Our Planet” is key to its attempt to help its powered access customers “go greener faster.”

The company has made a commitment to decrease its carbon intensity by 35% by 2030, with a shorter-term goal to reduce the figure by 15% before the end of 2024. “We are well ahead of our 2024 target and already closing in on our 2030 target,” the company states.

Sunbelt Rentals has introduced its Our Planet initiative.

According to Sunbelt Rentals, it is not enough to simply purchase the latest electric or Stage V access equipment; “We want to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy and work closely with our larger suppliers to develop, trial, and bring to market innovative, environmentally sustainable equipment.”

There are always early adopters of new technology who will hire the latest electric or hybrid equipment to help achieve their own environmental goals, but Sunbelt Rentals states, “Our job is to promote the benefits of using greener options to customers who are not so sure.”

This happens by influencing how new products are developed and used. “By bringing new products to a wide audience of customers in the rental market, we help develop acceptance of new equipment and drive further demand,” according to the company.

Over 70% of Sunbelt Rentals’ powered access fleet was electric, hybrid or Stage V, as of 2013 (up from 60% in 2022) and over 39% of the fleet is now under two years old (up from 32%).

Sunbelt Rentals says over 80% of its carbon footprint comes from its vehicle fleet, as it drives millions of miles every year delivering/collecting rental equipment. Tackling this issue includes using the vehicles in the most efficient way possible - including through onboard telematics to monitor driving efficiency, location-based tracking of fuel use and CO2 emissions, speed limiters, route optimization, load optimization, optimal maintenance schedules, fuel-efficient tires, and tire pressure monitors.

Shifting the vehicle fleet away from traditional fossil fuels to alternative fuels, the powered access team has available to them new LEVC ultra-low emissions vehicles which are used in the capital for servicing, small deliveries, visiting sites, and meeting customers.

From local efforts to big-picture focus

Nordic-based Renta Group appointed Rebecca Långström as its first-ever head of sustainability in September last year. The company created the role to align the goals at Group level to those within each individual country it operates in.

Prior to the appointment, the approach to ESG goals was localized, with individual countries given their own governance to perform reports and create ESG strategies.

An example of this is in Sweden, where the company published its first sustainability report in 2021, around a year before the group was required to do so.

Now, with the aim of a more uniform approach, all regions’ policies will align with one another.

“We have to do a few things the same way, across the company. I think there will be shift in the whole industry where you can’t do as you want anymore. You have to do it very strictly,” says Långström, speaking in January.

“If you want to be a company that’s ahead of your competition and doing the best that you can for the environment and your customers, you have to be on top of these things.”

Långström says, “I’m trying to improve the process that we started last year.

“We had a system that was from a consultancy for sustainability reporting for countries to enter their data, and the feedback that we got was that it wasn’t a user-friendly system so we are implementing a new platform where we can have all the data and do supplier screenings and ESG-related tasks.”

She continues, “Data collection and the quality of the data collection will have a huge role in the sustainability part. Being able to measure something is the only way that you can prove you are reducing emissions.”

Striving to meet UN goals

Also in Sweden, Kranpunkten’s efforts are based on the UN’s 17 global goals for sustainable development. The main focus lies in goals 3, 8, and 13, in which Kranpunkten has the most realistic opportunity to make

Kranpunkten is focusing on key sustainability goals.

an impact.

Based on goal 13 - climate action, Kranpunkten aims to be climate-neutral by 2030, with its efforts to achieve this including prioritizing investments in electric and hybrid machines and requiring equipment suppliers to make those available. Introducing oil-free scissor lifts with low energy consumption is also a priority.

The share of electric and hybrid machines reached 85% in 2022, with a goal of reaching 90% by 2023.

Another action is to convert existing equipment with combustion engines to use renewable HVO100 hydrotreated vegetable oil fuel, and that includes transport vehicles.

In 2022, 83% of machines with combustion engines were fueled with HVO100 instead of diesel, resulting in a emissions reduction of over 1 ton of CO2e per year since 2019. The goal for 2023 was for 95% of fuel to consist of HVO100.

Since 2020, the company’s cars and transport vehicles have been fueled with renewable HVO100, resulting in a 31% reduction in emissions from the vehicle fleet in 2022. The goal is to transition the entire vehicle fleet to electric by 2025.

In 2022, Kranpunkten launched the first electric truck with unique adaptations for loading, unloading, and transporting lifts in Gothenburg. This initiative is now followed by two additional electric trucks for sustainable machine transport in Stockholm and Malmö (2024).

Goal 8 in the list relates to Work and Economic Growth, and as such, the company actively works to secure employment conditions and strive for a high percentage of permanent employees, while Goal 3 relates to good health and well-being.

In recent months, both VP PLC and Loxam have made announcements on sustainability and how their strategies are validated. In January, United Rentals published a white paper on sustainability.

Elsewhere, Speedy Hire in the UK has achieved an A- ranking on its sustainability practices from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), up from its B rating in 2022.

Speedy’s ESG strategy has set targets to reach net zero emissions by 2040, 10 years ahead of the UK government deadline. By 2030, it aims to reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% and Scope 3 emissions by 42%.

Getting good grades

CPD is a non-profit body that assesses the environmental policies of companies, cities and governments, with 23,000 companies ranked worldwide. The ranking provides a snapshot of a company’s disclosure and environmental performance. To earn an A/A- score, said Speedy, organizations must show environmental leadership, and disclose action on climate change, deforestation or water security.

Speedy’s zero-emission truck.

Speedy said the A- rating puts it in the leadership category ahead of the Europe-wide average of B and industry average C. Three years ago it achieved a D rating.

“Moving from a D score to an A- in such a short time demonstrates how important thorough data collection and transparency is in the journey to achieving net zero,” the company states.

“This recognition validates the effectiveness of our ambitious Decade to Deliver ESG strategy, which aligns seamlessly with our science-based targets, bringing us closer to the UK Government’s 2050 net zero goals and reinforcing our dedication to an achievable net zero future through collaborative decarbonization solutions across the supply chain.”

Vp plc’s strategy to reduce emissions has received validation from the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) as being in line with its target to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

The UK-based company has pledged long-term to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce absolute scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions by 90% by 2050.

In the short-term, it has pledged to reduce its absolute scope 1 emissions by 50.4%, and scope 3 emissions by 50% from purchased goods and services, capital goods, use of sold products and downstream leased assets within the same timeframe.

At the same time, the company said most of its top 250 suppliers by emissions will have set science-based emissions reduction targets by 2025, all employees will be carbon literate and trained in sustainability.

The group will also reduce its energy consumption intensity (kWh/m2) by 20%, its waste production intensity by 30%, recycle more than 85% waste and divert more than 95% waste from landfill.

Meeting science-based targets

Loxam said its carbon reduction strategy had been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) making it one of the first equipment rental companies to obtain the certification.

In December last year, UK rental company VP plc said its strategy had also been validated by SBTi.

Loxam’s plan, launched in 2019, commits the group to reducing by 50% its Scope 1 and 2 emissions – those from its buildings and internal vehicles - and by 30% its Scope 3 emissions, which come from the manufacture, transport and use of its rental fleet.

To reach its 2030 target, the company has an action plan including the use of renewable energy at its branches (so far 50% of sites are covered), the electrification of its light vehicles, the use of natural gas-powered lorries for equipment transport, and major investments in low-emission equipment (electric, hybrid, gas and hydrogen powered).

SBTi defines best practices in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in line with the latest scientific research and in compliance with the 1.5°C global warming limit, with assessments made by independent specialists. It was established in 2015 by organizations including the Carbon Disclosure Project, the UN Global Compact and WWF.

Data impact Cramo Services Sweden has created a digital platform to follow CO2 emissions caused by all aerial lifts on the jobsite - those powered by combustion machines as well as electric machines. The company can see ongoing emissions or create a report to see the impact of each individual machine on a jobsite, and for example, lower idling hours leading to lower CO2 emissions. The application also lets the user compare various graphs for different time periods to see how the amount of CO2 emissions are developing. This gives those responsible on the jobsite real-time data and easy-to-understand facts to lower a project’s CO2 impact. Combustion-driven machines send telematics data on fuel consumption, usage hours and idling hours. For battery powered machines, the company can measure KWH, used for charging from charging stations. The ability to assess trends on how the CO2 impact is developing, or the total CO2 impact for the whole project, is unique, says Cramo. “We can draw reports for individual machines to see CO2 impact so the customer can actively use the machine in the most effective way possible.” the company says. “This data makes it easy to understand that choosing electric machines lowers the CO2 impact.”  Based in Brazil, Mills is continuously monitoring and reporting on its targets and progress, and is developing projects focused on reducing its emissions, such as an energy transition program. Within its decarbonization program, Mills is working on replacing its energy source in branches across all regions of Brazil. This involves replacing traditional electricity sources, where there is visibility and Mills is continuously monitoring and reporting on its targets and progress, and is developing projects focused on reducing its emissions, such as an energy transition program. traceability of generation, with clean and sustainable energy sources. All the company’s subsidiaries have undergone an energy transition feasibility analysis and, of these, 73% are already in the process of transitioning their consumption structure to the free energy market and distributed generation, through solar or wind farms. In October 2023, the company began the transition process and the goal is to have 100% of branches consuming energy from clean sources, therefore reducing Scope 2 emissions to zero. “We are increasingly open to creating and testing sustainable solutions from partners and we continuously strive to improve our sustainability indicators. This year we had our first greenhouse gas inventory audited and published by the GHG Protocol Program, including all emission scopes, and received a gold seal for quality,” the company says.