Solarglide commit to UNFCCC Race to Zero to reduce carbon emissions

Marine blind specialist Solarglide has announced its commitment to the United Nations climate scheme, UNFCCC Race to Zero. This worldwide campaign will shift the focus to encourage businesses to become more sustainable.

UNFCCC Race to Zero aims to rally leadership and support from businesses, cities, regions and investors for a resilient zero carbon recovery, to unlock sustainable growth. Newcastle-based Solarglide has announced ambitious goals to work towards being net zero by 2025, while the overall goal for all companies involved is to halve greenhouse gases before 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Paul Pringle, managing director at Solarglide, said, “We are striving towards being net zero and have set ourselves an ambitious target of three years to do this. We believe we have the capabilities and infrastructure to achieve this by making changes which include utilising electric vehicles and transitioning to biodegradable packaging.”

Solarglide is committed to making sure all packaging for its marine products will be 100% biodegradable. Its packaging had previously contained a very high proportion of plastic, and despite being produced from recycled plastic, the product could still end up in landfill if not processed correctly.

As an ISO 14000:2015 Environmental Management accredited company, Solarglide has made the packing process more eco-friendly by using recyclable and biodegradable packaging. This includes using strong cardboard, treated wooden boxes, cardboard edging, biodegradable bubble wrap, paper tapes and paper document wallets.

Solarglide also partnered with Newcastle University to review its products, to better understand its carbon impacts for their clients. Having created an ‘environmental and sustainability’ policy for the business, Solarglide wants to integrate everyone into the process, which includes changing from diesel engines to electric motors in all its vehicles from October 2022.

The environmental impact of shipping includes greenhouse gas emissions, acoustic, and oil pollution. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) estimates that carbon dioxide emissions from shipping were equal to 3.3% of the global human-made emissions in 2007 and it could have risen to 72% in 2020 if no action was taken.

Pringle continued, “We are proud to be involved in the UNFCCC Race to Zero, as a prestigious global campaign it will give us a platform and the incentive to be a part of an environmental revolution.”

For more information, visit Solarglide.

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