Williams Jet Tenders sets plan for carbon neutral business

Williams Jet Tenders announced at Metstrade that it has initiated a complete environmental assessment of its product range to help establish its long-term sustainability goals.

The company has utilised a leading marine industry life cycle assessment tool to assess its environmental impact, starting with its best-selling TurboJet 325. The resultant case study shows the environmental impact over the lifetime of the tender and lays out Williams’ future plans.

Williams says its vision is to move towards a carbon-neutral business footprint, creating 100 per cent recyclable products, built using environmentally friendly materials, powered by zero-emission propulsion systems.

Each assessment covered, where appropriate, the raw materials used, manufacturing processes, consumables used during manufacturing, energy use, upstream transport of materials to the manufacturing site, and end-of-life fate for the finished product, packaging and unused production waste materials.

For the initial study, the company’s primary focus was on greenhouse gases and waste with the complete life cycle of a TurboJet 325 estimated to be responsible for just over nine tonnes (9.12 tCO₂e per boat) of carbon dioxide equivalent per tender. The primary impact is the use phase of 5.60 tCO₂e per tender, which is almost entirely attributable to the consumption of petrol by customers. However, production is also significant (3.17 tCO₂e per boat). End of life is relatively small (0.34 tCO₂e) from a carbon perspective but is important in other ways. The full breakdown of CO₂ output by assessment category is in the document.

The study has formed the backbone of Williams’ sustainable strategy moving forward, the company says, with clear plans in place to deliver significant annual reductions in CO₂.

Williams has partnered with Natural Capital Partners to achieve CarbonNeutral product certification from 1 November. Williams has committed to reducing its annual emissions, and through Natural Capital Partners will offset all residual emissions associated with its products by supporting a variety of global environmental projects.

“This is something we are incredibly passionate about at Williams,” says Ollie Taylor, head of commercial development at Williams Jet Tenders. “Our climate is changing, the oceans are being polluted and nature is in decline. We know that we, and the wider industry, must take responsibility for the environmental impact of our products.

“By adopting the life cycle assessment approach, we have clear data that can inform our wider strategy, and the key focus areas became obvious very quickly. We are taking a business-wide approach to make significant reductions in our environmental impact today, whilst waiting for the larger technological breakthroughs that will enable us to further reduce emissions in the future.

“This is currently a choice we are making; however, we know external pressure from changing government legislation and shifting consumer demand will soon become the biggest driving factor in the need to adapt our business and the industry at large. I would strongly encourage anyone interested in sustainability to view the full case study online.”