Avis has always committed itself to promoting a sustainable future through business practices that minimises its impact on the environment; such as harvesting water in their wash bays and supporting the Joburg Landfill Gas to Energy Project through a partnership with Nedbank Capital.

To boost energy savings, Avis also installed heat pumps at its regional office, saving 71% on energy, cost and CO2 emissions relative to the old technology consumption. 

In addition to these initiatives, Avis has implemented an innovative solution to recycling its used uniforms together with Clothes to Cash Exchange (C2CX). 

C2CX, established in 2011, is a national non-profit organisation which buys clothes from various businesses, schools and communities and recycles them. They then use the recycled clothing to empower the underprivileged and people with disabilities in creating jobs and help budding entrepreneurs to sell the clothing in their own communities. 

C2CX is situated at Pathways Studios for ‘People with Disabilities’ in Pretoria, at the Shonaquip wheel chair factory, operated by ‘people with disabilities’, in Plumstead Cape Town and at the KwaZulu-Natal Blind & Deaf Society facility in Durban. 

“We feel this is a great way for Avis to dispose of its used uniforms in the most sustainable way and also assist C2CX in creating jobs and empowering communities at the same time,” says Rainer Gottschick, Avis chief executive for Southern Africa.

“Social enterprises are still a fairly new concept in SA and still requires public education,” says Jesse Naidoo, managing director for Clothes to Cash Exchange. 

“Most people are accustomed to used clothes in the charity mind-set and only once they have engaged with C2CX do they realise that they would be supporting an entire value chain. This includes charity fund creation, job creation for the poor and people with disabilities, environmentally positive recycling, micro-business creation for clothes resellers, repair workshops and NPO repair workshops,” adds Naidoo. 

“Avis has continuously been environmentally conscious and subscribe to a sustainable future and we are pleased to support this initiative. We believe in preserving our planet and uniform recycling with C2CX is one step closer in doing so,” concludes Gottschick. 

For more information on Avis, visit www.avis.co.za. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.