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United
Rentals Expands Environmental Stewardship with Launch of Major Sustainability
Program
Clean
Construction, Safety and Diversity among Top Priorities for 2011
(INDUSTRYWIRE)
GREENWICH, Conn. – December 21, 2010 – United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE:URI) today announced the launch
of an extensive sustainability program designed to foster growth and benefit
customers, employees, suppliers and communities. The Sustainable Growth
program's new online presence at unitedrentals.com/sustainable-growth includes
examples of the company's involvement, encourages collaboration via the
submission of ideas and suggestions, and offers a comprehensive white paper on
Clean Construction.
Michael
Kneeland, chief executive officer, said, “As we respond to the demand for our
services, we are careful to grow in an environmentally responsible manner. We
want our sustainability initiatives to have a lasting impact on our operations
and supply chain, and build enduring value for all stakeholders of United
Rentals. Green practices are more than a sound strategy for growth, they are
quite simply the right thing to do.”
Heidi Rawe,
senior director - sustainability, said, “Issues such as emissions control and
energy conservation are becoming increasingly important to our customers,
particularly those in the construction field. Sustainable Growth is about
demonstrating corporate responsibility while helping our customers address
regulatory and cultural changes within their own industries. These are exciting
objectives, and we are focused on developing innovative and practical ways to
advance them.”
Rawe said
that the company expects to build on numerous Sustainable Growth initiatives
already underway, including:
·
Retrofit
programs to ensure engine compliance for Tier 3 and Tier 4 equipment.
·
“Clean
construction” industry education to help contractors address new regulations.
·
Customer
training and train-the-trainer programs that advocate safety and best
practices.
·
State-of-the-art
GPS technology and hand-held computers to optimize routing, dispatch and
equipment loads, and conserve fuel.
·
eProcurement
and paperless invoicing to eliminate thousands of printed documents annually.
·
Alternative
fuel capabilities where viable, including the use of biofuels.
·
Collaborative
relationships with equipment suppliers who are committed to sustainability.
In addition
to outlining its initiatives for Sustainable Growth, the company has identified
employee diversity, supplier diversity and safety as continuing priorities in
2011. In 2010, United Rentals recorded the fourth consecutive year of
significant improvement in safety performance, and received national
recognitions for its recruitment of military veterans and supplier diversity
practices.
About
United Rentals
United
Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the world, with an
integrated network of 549 rental locations in 48 states and 10 Canadian
provinces. The company's approximately 7,400 employees serve construction and
industrial customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The
company offers for rent approximately 2,900 classes of equipment with a total
original cost of $3.8 billion. United Rentals is a member of the Standard &
Poor's MidCap 400 Index and the Russell 2000 Index® and is headquartered in
Greenwich, Conn.
Contact:
Fred
Bratman
(203)
618-7318
Cell:
(917) 847-4507
fbratman@ur.com
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