Astley Hire wins sustainability prize

Astley Hire has been awarded with a gold medal for meeting its Net-Zero targets by the France-based sustainability ratings specialist EcoVadis.

Astely Hire is said to be among the first industrial companies in the UK to achieve Net-Zero. (Image: Astley Hire/EcoVadis)

Astley is headquartered just outside Manchester, UK, and provides access, cleaning, scaffolding, cooling, and heating equipment to customers in the industrial sector.

It is said to be among the first industrial equipment rental companies to achieve the PAS 2060 carbon-neutral emissions standard - developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI), which was verified by certification body National Quality Assurance (NQA).

To achieve its sustainability rating - and its EcoVadis gold medal - in 2020 the rental company employed consultancy service Charis Ventures to create and implement a “comprehensive carbon scheme”.

The year-long carbon scheme resulted in the company lowering its potential carbon footprint from 485.21 tonnes a year to 476.92 tonnes, which was offset through a government-backed programme.

Martin Doran, Astley Hire’s General Manager, said, “This is an important step forward for the business and something we are all passionate about. It hasn’t been straightforward, and we have learned a lot on our carbon journey so far.

“We realise that this is just the start, and we have more work to do over the coming years to reach our Zero carbon targets. Hopefully, our customers feel the benefit of the changes we have made so far and the changes that will be driven as a result of achieving this high standard of accreditation.”

Having now received the gold medal award from EcoVadis and achieved the PAS 2060 certification for its efforts, the company says it will continue to develop and improve its environmental strategy, with the aim of incorporating change to “every aspect” of its operations to reduce “any environmental impact”.