On the occasion of the 79th Arbor Day, Lotte Rental held a ‘Blue Tomorrow Tree Planting’ event alongside more than 170 employees in Seoul, Changwon, and Cheongju.
This event took place on the 5th of this month, aiming to participate in activities that purify the carbon dioxide emitted from vehicles. Employees from Lotte Rental & Green Car’s Seoul and Gyeonggi region, Gyeongsang region, and Chungcheong & Jeolla region each visited trees near their workplaces, including Noeul Park in Seoul, Pal Yong Neighborhood Park in Changwon, and Yongjeong Neighborhood Park in Cheongju.
Around 110 employees, including CEO Choi Jin-hwan, participated in the tree planting event at Noeul Park in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul. In Changwon and Cheongju, about 30 employees gathered to contribute to urban forest creation.
On that day, Lotte Rental employees planted a total of 780 saplings, including oak, arrowwood, and hawthorn trees, over an area of approximately 2,000㎡ (605 pyeong). Once these newly planted trees mature, each one is expected to absorb around 35.7g of fine particulate matter per tree, totaling 28kg a year. This is equivalent to the dust emissions produced by 16.5 diesel vehicles over a year. The trees are also effective in absorbing carbon dioxide, with each tree expected to effectively absorb 6.6kg annually, leading to an estimated total of about 5.1 tons of carbon dioxide reduction per year.
Lotte Rental is the only comprehensive rental company in Korea, offering a full lineup of automotive services ranging from the No.1 car rental brand Lotte Rent-a-Car, car-sharing Green Car, used car auction Lotte Auto Auction, vehicle management specialist Lotte Auto Care, to freight truck financial specialist Lotte Auto Lease. They operate over 260,000 vehicles annually, making them the company with the most vehicles owned and operated in the country, enhancing environmental management by preparing measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and fulfill their social responsibilities.
In 2021, they established an ESG dedicated organization and an ESG committee to firmly establish an ESG management system. They are participating in the Ministry of Environment’s ‘K-EV100’ campaign, which aims to convert vehicles owned or leased by private companies into zero-emission vehicles, promoting the transition to eco-friendly cars. Lotte Rental has issued green bonds totaling 710 billion KRW to support eco-friendly vehicle purchases.
Lotte Rental operates the largest and most diverse range of eco-friendly vehicles based on a single legal entity in the country. They continuously introduce a variety of EV-specialized products and services to enhance electric vehicle accessibility. Lotte Rent-a-Car offers the ‘EV Perfect Plan,’ a full care program for long-term electric car rental customers, free of charge. They also launched the industry’s first electric vehicle home charging service and battery reassurance care service. Lotte Auto Lease operates the ‘Biz Pass’ subscription product exclusively for eco-friendly commercial vehicle customers.
They have also been actively engaged in customer participation CSR activities utilizing eco-friendly electric vehicles for the past seven years. The ‘Eco-Friendly Donation Driving Campaign’ allows customers renting electric vehicles from Lotte Rent-a-Car’s Jeju Auto House to accumulate 50 KRW in donations for every kilometer driven. The annually accumulated donations are used to support mobility rights enhancement and rehabilitation for children with disabilities, who face social transport challenges. Since 2018, around 21,000 short-term electric vehicle rental customers have participated, with a cumulative driving distance of about 12 million kilometers and total donations amounting to 260 million KRW.
Lotte Rental plans to continue its growth as a leading eco-friendly company this year. On the 29th of last month, they signed a business agreement with their subsidiary, Lotte Innovate’s EVsys, to expand the electric vehicle charger business. The two companies will work together to promote electric vehicle chargers and charging station operations and integration with electric vehicle platforms.
CEO Choi Jin-hwan stated, “This opportunity of planting trees directly reinforces the sense of environmental responsibility among our employees, who make their livelihood in the automotive industry. By hosting this event for the first time this year, we aim to explore various ways our company can contribute to a sustainable future going forward.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr