From carbon counting to inclusivity: five things we learnt from Loxam’s new CSR report

As Europe’s largest construction equipment rental company,  Loxam has been one of the first companies in the sector to start to measure and set goals to reduce its carbon footprint.

This year, fresh from the company’s involvement in key projects such as the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games and its ongoing support for the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, the company has gone even further, publishing a list of of environmental social and governmental measures undertaken in 2024 and more detailed plans for the years ahead.

International Rental News had a look through the company’s most recent report to find out more. Here’s what we discovered:

1. The company’s carbon footprint is coming down

Loxam’s carbon footprint in 2024 stood at 817,000 tons of CO2 equivalent – a figure which has been validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative. Overall, the company’s carbon footprint has come down by more than 15% over the last five years. In 2019 it was estimated to be 974,000 tons of CO2e and by 2023 this had fallen to 903,000 tons.

The company has pledged to halve its direct carbon emissions between 2019 and 2030 in absolute terms and to reduce its indirect emissions by 30% over time same time scale.

Loxam says of one the main ways it is working to reduce carbon emissions is by an internal action plan to reduce its own impact. All Loxam branches in France are supplied with renewable gas and electricity and the company plans to be entirely supplied with renewable energy by 2030. So far, the company has a total of 1,179.6KWp (kilowatt-peak) installed on the roofs of its buildings.

Separately, the company also now has at least two EV charging points at each of its branches and has drawn up a plan to convert 100% of its light vehicle fleet to electric or plug in hybrid by 2030.

It is also working to transition its truck fleet to alternative fuels. So far 10% of Loxam’s delivery trucks in France are powered by gas and two are electric. The company says it is studying all alternatives including gas, electric and hydrogen engines as well as the use of biofuels.

2. Nearly half of all company emissions come from equipment use

Loxam and Novumtech have collaborated to retrofit a diesel mini excavator with an electric motor. Photo: Novumtech

Loxam says its global fleet comprises more than 650,000 pieces of equipment and accounts for around half of its carbon footprint.

It calculates that only 2% of its footprint came from emissions linked to company premises energy consumption. Meanwhile 10% of emissions came from emissions linked to the production of equipment.

In an attempt to reduce the emissions from customers using its equipment, the company says it is providing sustainable options to customers, collaborating with trade federations and providing carbon footprint calculations to customers to provide them with insights into their environmental progress.

In 2024 the company has been working with green tech specialist Novumtech to design a specially customised unit capable of replacing its combustion engine with an electric motor. The company also became the first in France last year to test a 15-ton electric excavator.

To work out how to reduce the emissions produced when manufacturing its machines, the company is employing environmental analysis firm EcoVardis to evaluate its equipment suppliers. So far Loxam says 91 of its suppliers (on purchasing volume) have gone through this process. As a result, Loxam says it has implemented several initiatives including introducing CSR commitments in contracts, writing a responsible procurement charter, producing supplier ratings including CSR criteria, and site audits.

3. The company has an accident frequency rate of 9.4

In its report, Loxam says that it has brought its accident frequency rate (AFR) to below 10 which the company says is a remarkable result for the sector. This means that for every 100,000 hours worked, on average the company has reported fewer than 10 accidents in 2024. Loxam says its AFR has fallen by 12% compared with the previous year and by 33% over the last two years.

The company said its accident severity rate stood at 0.5. It added that ten if its business units reported no accidents at all in 2024.

Loxam said that 87% of its 11,879 employees have been on at least one training course.

The company said that it was reducing the number of man-machine collisions on sites by using new technology to trigger alerts. A key example of this is a partnership the company has developed with Manitou to acquire telehandlers equipped with AI cameras which detects the presence of pedestrians around the machine.

4. Loxam is working to recruit more disabled people in France

Loxam says it is working hard to attract, develop and retain talent from all backgrounds and to foster diversity. Last year the company conducted an audit, alongside specialised consulting firm Agefiph, to identify the barriers preventing people with disabilities being employed by the company as well as best practices, and key actions to better address the challenges. This project also aimed to raise awareness among teams and propose concrete action plans to employing more people with disabilities in future. As a result Loxam has now formed a steering committee bringing together various network and headquarters departments within Loxam and the company is currently working on implementing these action plans.

Loxam also reported that as a result of its involvement with the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris, the company had helped 87 unemployed people return to sustainable employment.

5. The company is promoting whistleblowing

Loxam says that because it operates through a network of locally-established branches, each of which have the freedom to operate independently, it is placing great importance on enabling whistleblowers to come forward anonymously if standards are not being met. The company says that last year its speak-up platform received 58 protected disclosures. Zero cases were substantiated.