Headquartered in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, Rye Group took delivery of its first tank of HVO Green D+ fuel for equipment at the Kodak site, Harlow, in August.

Since then Rye has substituted the use of red diesel in all its site equipment and following a new contract with national fuel and lubricant provider, New Era Fuels, will also transition all road vehicles to HVO – with 600,000 litres of the green fuel to be delivered over the next 12 months.

Rye currently operates a fleet of 30 vans, cars, and HGVs/low loaders to move staff, plant and machinery around its sites. Replacing road diesel with white HVO will significantly aid additional emissions reductions across these vehicles, on top of the site machinery already operating on HVO.

As a result, Rye Group has forecast a 1,724 metric tonnes reduction in carbon emissions by autumn 2022, almost completing its target to slash all fuel emissions by 90% by the close of 2023.

Managing Director, Simon Barlow, said: “Reducing our environmental impact is incredibly important to the entire team at Rye Group and since launching our own Sustainable Standard philosophy in early 2020, I am delighted that we are making such positive progress with simple but effective changes in how we operate.

“As one of the first demolition contractors to roll out the use of HVO across all company related vehicles, we are hopeful that others will be inspired to trial the diesel alternative, resulting in widespread industry change.”

Made of used cooking oil and supplemented with an organic additive that reduces carbon emissions by 90% and NOx emissions by 30% when compared to diesel, New Era’s HVO Green D+ was chosen by Rye Group due to the sustainable nature of its production. In addition, the fuel is fully certified back to source to ISCC standards, in line with the Renewable Energy Directive.

Rye’s switch to HVO follows the success of its exceptional recycling and reuse rates, together with other impactful sustainability measures.