Waterford family-owned business nominated for prestigious international sustainability award

Equipment hire company Clem Jacob Hire has been shortlisted for a Global Sustainability Award at the World International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) awards that will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, in April.

The family-owned business is based in Kilbarry. Their entire fleet of machines runs on Hydro treated vegetable oil (HVO fuel) instead of diesel, while a large portion of its hire fleet runs on battery and HVO.

Clem Jacob Hire’s nomination sees them in exclusive company alongside three other international companies recognised for sustainability.

“After all the years of working on our sustainability plan and putting massive effort into cutting our carbon footprint, we can now begin to see the positive results of all this hard work and investment,” Clem Jacob said.

“Our small family run company, from Waterford, will come head to head against three multi billion dollar manufacturing companies from France, China and the United Arab Emirates.

“For us to be in this position is pretty amazing and I would really like to thank everyone in the company that worked so hard to get us to this position.

“A special thank you also to my son Sean for the hours and days it took to complete all these reports and award entries. I am so proud of what all my team have achieved.” 

Clem Jacob Hire previously won the Waterford Local Enterprise Office’s Glas awards for sustainability in SMEs.

Alongside its HVO-powered fleet, the company uses a bank of solar panels to charge its electric cars. 

The company collects rainwater for power washing its machines.