Marine Plant Hire charts a greener course as UK's first carbon neutral marine plant hire business

18 February 2026

Marine plant Hire (MPH), the UK provider of marine services and vessel hire, has become the first business of its kind to achieve carbon neutral status under scope 1 and 2 of a framework devised and overseen by the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol.

In a trailblazing first for the sector, MPH, which supplies specialist marine plant and skilled operators to support infrastructure projects across the UK and Europe, is widely anticipated to be seen as setting a new sustainability standard for the industry.

The move is also expected to encourage others operating in the same space to follow, accelerating the marine sector’s progress towards the UK’s wider ambition of reaching net zero by 2050.

To achieve carbon neutral status (scope 1 and 2), an organisation must have measured and offset all direct and indirect greenhouse emissions from its own operations and energy use.

MPH achieved this through offsetting a total of 81 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e) by voluntarily investing in credits that support the Bank Farm Regenerative Project – a UK sustainability initiative that is also backed by prominent brands including Waitrose & Partners, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest.

Achieving carbon neutral status for our scope 1 and 2 emissions is a major milestone for the business and a clear signal of where marine plant hire is heading. We operate in an environment where heavy plant, barges and tugs are essential to delivering safe and efficient water-based projects, but we’re also realistic about the impact that comes with that kind of power and capability. That’s exactly why we’ve taken action now. This is about raising standards, protecting the waterways we work on every day and helping our customers deliver projects with greater confidence in their environmental performance.

Rich Eggleton Managing Director at Marine Plant Hire

Achieving carbon neutral status for scope 1 and 2 emissions is a major landmark and strong statement of intent. It shows that MPH has taken the time to measure its impact properly and act on the areas it can control. Just as importantly, it helps set a new benchmark for the marine sector, which proves that practical and credible progress is achievable. MPH should be congratulated for showing strong, sustainability-led leadership and helping build momentum for wider change.

Ashley Webber Director at Balanced Energy, the environmental consultancy that awarded the carbon neutral status (scope 1 and 2)

For more information on MPH visit https://www.marineplanthire.co.uk. For more information on the GHG Protocol visit https://ghgprotocol.org/.

Image caption: Rich Eggleton, Managing Director at Marine Plant Hire (L) with Ashley Webber, Director at Balanced Energy (R)