United Rentals 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report Emphasizes Environmental Stewardship, Social Impact, Governance

Using the theme “Work United: Building a Sustainable Future Together,” the report covers major aspects of the company’s corporate responsibility framework in three areas: environmental stewardship, social impact and governance and ethics.

Michael Roth

Aug. 2, 2022

2 min read

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United Rentals has released its 10^th Corporate Responsibility Report documenting its progress in 2021. Using the theme “Work United: Building a Sustainable Future Together,” the report covers major aspects of the company’s corporate responsibility framework in three areas: environmental stewardship, social impact and governance and ethics.

Among the 2021 highlights in the report are a 17-percent year-over-year reduction in United Rentals’ already low U.S. OSHA recordable incident rate; 31.3-percent of sales and management roles held by “diverse employees”; approximately $1 billion spent with “diverse suppliers”; and a 9-percent reduction in the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions from direct operations, toward a 35-percent reduction target by 2030.

Matthew Flannery, CEO of United Rentals, said, “We’re pleased to share our 2021 progress on ESG initiatives in our latest Corporate Responsibility Report. While there’s still work to be done, we’re moving closer to our goals for diversity, climate action and other key areas aligned with our values. We’re a better company today because we Work United in collaboration with all our stakeholders.”

Highlights in 2022 include the adoption of six additional environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals and the company’s agreements to purchase more than 500 electric trucks and vans from Ford Pro, as well as 100 Takeuchi electric excavators, reflecting investments in sustainable solutions for its operations and rental fleet. Also, Newsweek named United Rentals one of America’s Most Responsible Companies in 2022 for the second consecutive year.

United Rentals 2021 Corporate Responsibility Report was developed in alignment with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) guidelines. In addition to a GRI index, the report also contains a Sustainability Accounting Standards Board index and a response to recommendations from the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures. The full report is available for download at unitedrentals.com under Company/About Us.

About the Author

Michael Roth

Editor

Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.