To deepen understanding around their emissions, the impact calculator was developed by IMOCA. This has been made available to all teams, accounting for their direct and indirect emissions. This impact calculator has also been used by the Transat Café L'Or organisation in its 2021 and 2023 editions.
IMOCA has encouraged teams to engage and use the ToolBox, developed by 11th Hour Racing Team in 2020. This consists of guides, tools and templates created to make sustainability strategy free and accessible for any organisation. IMOCA was one of the first organisations to use the Toolbox and set up guidance sessions for all teams to learn about sustainability strategy. In addition, the Class translated the Toolbox into French.
Over the past four years, IMOCA has organised a series of workshops with the teams, with 16 held so far. The workshops have covered waste management, sustainability strategy, collision avoidance, safeguarding, alternative materials, industrial impacts and more. During the same period IMOCA has continued its engagement with the wider community through appearances by IMOCA sustainability staff at over 50 conferences. Most recently IMOCA has released its first podcast called TRANSITION.
To deal with redundant material in yards, the GiveBox was set up. This is a receptacle placed in La Base in Lorient into which teams are encouraged to deposit any waste that could be repurposed. This system gives new life to objects still in good condition but unused, which can be used by other teams. In this way, a great collective dynamic has been created between the different sailing communities within Lorient.
By 2050, total composite waste is projected to reach an astounding 683,000 tonnes per year in Europe, while the global recycling capacity lags behind at less than 100,000 tonnes (Composite Materials). IMOCA is determined to play its part in helping to establish carbon fibre recycling solutions.
In 2022, thanks to a three-way collaboration between IMOCA, 11th Hour Racing Team and Gen2Carbon, 3.5 tonnes of carbon fibre was recycled in less than two months. Since then, IMOCA has continued with this project, but in collaboration with Guyot Environnement and Gen2Carbon. Guyot Environnement has set up a carbon fibre recycling skip for all the IMOCA teams based in Lorient, with the aim of expanding into other ports in 2025.