Polaris sets 90 percent recyclabilty target

Minneapolis-based off-road vehicle (ORV) manufacturer Polaris Inc. has set a target date of 2035 for achieving a goal of using 90 percent recyclable material in its ORVs produced that year. The 90 percent goal was announced in Polaris’ recently released 2022 Geared For Good environmental, social and governance (ESG) report.

In addition to the recyclable materials target, other new environmental goals focused on the year 2035 announced by Polaris include diverting 90 percent of waste from landfills and reaching 75 percent renewable energy in its global portfolio.

“Polaris is passionate about helping people discover and experience the outdoors,” says Lucy Clark Dougherty, senior vice president, general counsel and secretary at Polaris. “We are grateful to be able to ride and Think Outside and will continue to be good stewards through our ongoing actions that bring our Geared For Good efforts to life.”

Polaris says it already has increased the amount of renewable energy in its portfolio through solar projects in France and China. The company says it also began implementing energy management best practices at eight United States-based facilities.

In its 2022 ESG report, the company says it has as one of its principles “reducing waste and pollutants, conserving resources and recycling materials at every stage of the product life cycle.”

Last year, Polaris says more than 34,300 tons of discarded materials were recycled or otherwise diverted from landfills at its facilities around the world.

Polaris says in its 2022 ESG report that in terms of recyclability, such data only is gathered in the European Union, “where the end-of-life vehicle law requires Polaris to have programs to retrieve and recycle certain types of our vehicles.”

Polaris brands, in addition to Polaris ORVs, include Sportsman all-terrain off-road vehicles, Indian motorcycles, Slingshot moto-roadsters, Aixam quadricycles, Goupil electric vehicles and Bennington pontoon boats.