The South African arm of Fuchs Lubricants has celebrated Word Water Day by showcasing its own measures to conserve water and launching an awareness campaign for water conservation.
Fuchs has set itself some of the most ambitious targets for sustainability in the industry, with it wanting its lubricant and grease products to be cradle-to-gate carbon neutral by 2025. Its gate-to-gate operations are already carbon neutral. The director for sustainability at Fuchs, Esther Seabi, said about the company’s efforts:
“We are also actively involved with the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and have set ourselves a target to spend a percentage of our EBIT for that purpose. In 2022, we spent 4%. We have also committed to continuous improvement and external, independent assurance of our sustainability efforts.”
Fuchs has made its new regional head office in Isando carbon neutral and implemented a number of water conservation features. First, the facility collects rainwater and wastewater from the demineralisation process into six 10,000 litre tanks, two for irrigation and four for washroom facilities, with the water being purified through a two-stage disruptor filtration system. The system can seamlessly switch between this and the municipal supply when needed. To reduce water consumption, washrooms are fitted with toilets that require less water to flush and efficient taps with a relatively low flow rate.
Fuch’s awareness campaign for its employees includes an exhibition of art and posters and a toolbox talk to emphasise the importance of water conservation, which is especially relevant in a water-scarce country like South Africa.
