Member in the Spotlight - Marlow Ropes

The Challenge

Marlow Ropes is one of the leading rope manufacturers in the world. Several years back it recognised a need to create more environmentally friendly products and to reduce their impact as a manufacturer on the environment.

The Solution

In 2018 Marlow Ropes introduced a new range of ropes for the Leisure Marine sector, which reduced the reliance on fossil fuel materials. The Blue Ocean range is made using recycled polyester, sourced from recycled waste plastic bottles. This innovation has since driven further innovation and the Blue Ocean product line has been developed and extended for specialist ropes, first in the arboriculture tree climbing market in 2020 and into the static ropes Safety & Access market in 2021.

In the Leisure Marine market, Marlow Ropes is involved with some of the world’s top sailing teams and athletes who regularly review their supply chains for sustainability. The Blue Ocean range meets the sustainable standards that many teams now expect and outperforms the requirements of those reviews.

The Outcome

Marlow Ropes has fully embraced a greener approach. All electricity comes from renewable sources. Internally at our facilities, all single use plastics have been removed or replaced with a biodegradable sugar cane alternative. Packaging materials have been reduced and only card or wood is used. All paper packaging is now uncoated FSC  for ease of recycling.

To reduce our overall carbon emissions, yet still fulfilling the need of suppling our important US market, we reviewed our logistics, reduced the number of deliveries and switched from Air to Sea freight – this had led to a 97% reduction in carbon emissions per shipment.