Hertz is committed to reducing the environmental impacts of our operations through innovation and more efficient management of our facilities. We are making progress throughout the organization to improve environmental performance and reduce the carbon footprint of our operations.
In addition to our ongoing efficiency efforts, we’re working to improve data collection and monitoring needed to maximize operational performance. We’re also exploring opportunities to engage suppliers and employees in our sustainability journey.
Environmental Management Systems
Hertz employs ISO14001 environmental management principles across our operations, including certification at select locations, to minimize energy use, reduce waste and engage employees in our sustainability efforts.
Energy Efficiency
Energy-efficiency projects and setting reduction targets are important short-term priorities of our sustainability plan. We’ve made significant improvements in our global energy performance, but there is always room to do more. Here are just a few of the energy improvement initiatives we’re working on globally:
- Facility energy audits
- Lighting, automated controls and HVAC upgrades
- Lighting upgrades at 20 Hertz locations have saved more than 480 metric tons of carbon annually
- Integrated data management system
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Green IT
Coordinating rental operations at 8,500 locations in 146 countries requires a significant amount of energy and IT support. To help reduce our energy load and costs, we’re implementing efficiency projects throughout our technology centers:
- We’ve introduced the use of heat-recovery and ice-cooling in our technology and call center locations
- Our planned IT virtualization and rationalization projects will reduce our IT energy footprint by 40% over the next five years
- Our computers rank on the Green500 list of the most energy-efficient super computers
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Work from Home
The Hertz reservation agent Work from Home program saves more than 830 metric tons of carbon annually.
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Water Conservation
Managing one of the largest car rental fleets in the world and meeting customer satisfaction standards require a significant amount of car washing. To minimize our water footprint:
- Our car washes recycle 80% of water
- We use Green Clean waterless detailing process whenever possible
Hertz Environmental Impacts
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50,000 IT units recycled since 2005
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More than 80% of car wash water is recycled
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645,000 gallons of used oil recycled in 2010
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Printer toner use reduced by 45% since 2008
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40,000 trees saved since 2010 via paper recycling
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Annual paper use reduced by 56% since 2006
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2.7 million kWh of solar energy produced annually