Business: Reducing the carbon footprint in access platform hire

But this is increasingly unfair as there are some businesses who are among the most active when it comes to setting and implementing a plan to reduce their carbon footprint.

One such company is Eagle Platforms Ltd – based in Sheffield.

Managing Director Adam Nicholson is very hot on sustainability and the company have a clear plan when it comes to reducing their carbon footprint year on year. “Over the last few years we have boosted our rental fleet with green diesel and electric and hybrid vehicles, moved towards paperless and replaced all of the old lighting in and around our extensive workshops with energy saving alternatives at a cost of over £30k” the progressive MD explains.

This is just the tip of a very large iceberg representing the company's extensive carbon reducing blueprint.

Let's take a closer look at some of the other things that can be done within the access platform hire sector and indeed other similar businesses to reduce carbon footprints. If we can do this, we all can.

Recycle

There is so much that can be recycled in any hire company's premises. Deliveries almost always come with cardboard and plastic – all of which is usually recyclable. In addition, food waste from staff can be placed in compostable caddies for recycling. We save waste metal, and all paper-waste is recycled.

Energy to waste

Something else that Adam Nicholson mentioned in our conversation was that all non-recyclable waste is converted to energy.

This is something more businesses should look to get involved in as there are several mechanisms for achieving this and more and more cities are getting waste-to-energy specialist companies. There are several ways of generating energy from waste and just one example is our waste oil workshop heater which provides heat from the product.

Working more in the local area

Not only is working with other local businesses great for your own area, it also helps boost your local SEO, helping your business to appear higher up the Google search results for your area. In addition, and more importantly in the context of this article, however it also helps your business to reduce its carbon footprint, with thoughtful route planning and less fuel consumption. The added savings of fewer service due dates from less miles driven by 8 lorries or more weekly cannot be underestimated and benefits all involved in the process.

Reduce car journeys or go hybrid / electric.

We encourage employees living close to the workplace to travel to work on a bicycle, walk or car-share. Company cars should be hybrid or electric if possible. These changes can make a dramatic impact to carbon footprint.

Not quite there yet for distant journeys, we are optimistic that very soon we will be able to replace diesel vans with at the least Hybrid vehicles, which will be a massive positive impact on carbon footprint. The all-electric versions do not yet work for us as they currently do not have sufficient travel distances between recharges. We look forward to the day when thist also improves.

Populate your fleet with green diesel and hybrid/electric access platforms.

Gone are the days where green models of MEWPs (Mobile Elevating Work Platforms) and scissor lifts were inferior in performance. Now there are some truly excellent green diesel and electric/hybrid models that are now available fully rough terrain and combine premium performance with environmental benefits.

Go paperless!

This is something businesses in most sectors can work towards and makes a huge difference to the green profile of an enterprise.

We use tablets for contract record keeping and service monitoring throughout the business. We track and monitor the location of all vehicles and plan the closest available service engineer or transporter to collect plant off hire.

Adam Nicholson says “It is true that creative use of these measures has also boosted profitability and, in the process, helps sustainability of our precious environment. We look forward to further reducing our carbon footprint as new conservation idea’s come forward to enhance the world, we all live in!”