Europcar SA is delighted to have the opportunity to support the Journey of Water initiative launched by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), says CEO Dawn Nathan-Jones.

“Water is essential to humanity’s survival, yet it’s rapidly becoming one of our planet’s scarcer resources,” she says. “Europcar itself began introducing corporate water-saving initiatives three years ago, understanding that South Africa is semi-arid. Its rainfall is half the world’s average. Worse still, only 9% of that is converted into runoff into our rivers, which is the world’s lowest conversion of rainfall to runoff.” Europcar SA will supply vehicles to transport the celebrity team and support crew to key points for the Journey of Water. This consists of an arduous 85km walk from the Berg River to the Cape Castle Tunnels, from 4 to 7 November. For back-up and to enable the film crew and photographers to track the story, the company will also supply an off-road vehicle. “We’re excited about this innovative way chosen by WWF to highlight the problems in the catchment areas of our rivers, such as alien infestation and various forms of pollution,” says Nathan-Jones. “We’re sure people will be intrigued to hear about this and fascinated to know how the celebrities, such as 5FM DJ Catherine Grenfell, actress Florence Masebe, former Bafana Bafana player Jimmy Tau, cope with the walk and what they find along the way.

“We’ll be asking our Twitter followers and Facebook fans to support the initiative as well. We hope this will help spread the word about why we all need to be mindful of our water consumption.” Running a fleet of about 18 750 vehicles means Europcar SA washes more than 2 500 cars a day, 75 000 cars a month and 850 000 cars a year – creating a significant opportunity when the company moved to recycling and reusing water, says Nathan-Jones. “Europcar’s car-rental vehicle wash bays are increasingly using chemical-free water-recycling in all major vehicle turnaround facilities,” she says. “We’ve invested significantly in recycling plants and rainwater harvesting.” This is in line with the Water Conservation Management and Efficiency Strategy of its parent, Imperial Group. At the major turnaround facilities where water-recycling takes place, the water recycle rate has reached 98%. “As a result, we estimate we have saved 150 million litres of water since the programme was introduced in 2010,” says Nathan-Jones.
In the year June 2012-June 2013 alone, an estimated 55 million litres of recycled water was used and reused, she notes.

“This year was forecast to mark the tipping point when demand would start to outstrip supply, particularly in the key Vaal supply to Gauteng,” she says. “Our system reduces what we draw from the municipal water supply, as well as making sure that the grey waste water release back into the system is clean. “At Europcar SA, we’ve been making our own Journey of Water. So we’re delighted to support this WWF campaign to remind our nation just how precious water really is and, as WWF says, it doesn’t just come from a tap, bottle or even a dam.”
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ABOUT EUROPCAR SOUTH AFRICA

Europcar has established itself as one of South Africa’s leading global car rental companies; one which prides itself on delivering locally relevant, world-class service excellence with a dynamic and fresh attitude. Its payoff line of ‘Moving Your Way’ encompasses the company’s global strategy to be a key player in shaping the future of mobility, together with its commitment to exceptional customer service.

The company, owned and managed by the Imperial Group*, has operated exclusively as Europcar since 2009 having a rich 33-year history with its roots as Imperial Car Rental.

Voted Africa’s Leading Car Hire Company at the 2012 World Travel Awards – for the seventh consecutive year – the company serves around a third of the South African car rental market and has segmented the business to tailor solutions to the business and leisure markets, both inbound and locally.

The organisation is just as conscientious when it comes to social responsibility, and supports a number of programmes focusing on children, education, HIV/ Aids and poverty alleviation. Sustainability is also a business imperative and the company focuses heavily on the promotion of environmental responsibility, awareness and behavior throughout its operations, with the primary goal of reducing its outputs.

Europcar offers a fleet peaking at 18,500 vehicles at over 120 locations throughout Southern Africa - and through the global Europcar network, offers car rental access to around 220,000 across 150 countries.

Holding ISO9001 (2008) accreditation, Europcar holds a level Two BBBEE rating.  It is a member of the South African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (SAVRALA), and has partnerships with several important service providers in the travel industry.

Then again, that’s typical of a Proudly South African company which believes that supporting everything local – from people to businesses – is critical to the future of this country.

*IMPERIAL is a diversified industrial services and retail group with activities spanning logistics; car rental; tourism; financial services; vehicle distribution and retail. It operates in South Africa, Africa, Europe and Australia, is listed on the Johannesburg stock exchange and employs over 40,000 people