JCDecaux Group is known for its bus stop advertising, billboards, public bicycle rental systems, and street furniture. As the largest outdoor advertising corporation in the world with 13,000 employees and a fleet of 10,000 vehicles, it has recognized the importance of and has dedicated itself to limiting its environmental footprint.
The Danish arm, called AFA JCDecaux, has managed to become a pioneer of innovative, green solutions, championed by Quality, Health, Safety, Environment (QSE) Manager, Tonny Pagter. Tonny led the transition of all 80 Copenhagen company vehicles to electric vehicles (EVs), and now has seven vehicles in his fleet using Nuvve’s vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging platform to further increase their positive environmental impact. They go around every morning, maintaining the bus stand advertising in the city.
We recently sat down with Tonny to talk to him about his role at ACA JCDecaux, the company’s commitment to the environment, and his experience with Nuvve.
Q: What are some of the ways JCDecaux innovates to be eco-friendly?
Tonny: We see our company from a life cycle perspective – from cradle to grave. Among other things, this means that all paper used for the poster stands is environmentally friendly, that our waste is 100% recycled, and that we wash with demineralized rainwater.
Q: How do you benefit from being a frontrunner of green transformation?
Tonny: The municipality of Copenhagen has increased its focus on environmental sustainability and it forms an important criterion in their business tenders. So, here we have a clear comparative advantage. But it is important to state that, at the end of the day, we choose to be eco-friendly because we WANT to. As an example, we made the decision to shift to EVs many years before this was expected from us. In the same manner, the V2G technology is not a demand but something extra that we can contribute with.
Q: How did the cooperation with Nuvve begin?
Tonny: Nissan contacted us with an offer to join a pool of seven charging stations. Nissan came to us and proposed using their eNV200 which is bidirectional in a V2G trial. At the same time, we entered into an agreement with Nuvve to become part of a test project and get the V2G technology connected to our seven electric vehicles.
Q: How does Nuvve’s technology function on a daily level?
Tonny: Just great. Everything is running very smoothly. We see Nuvve as a really professional partner who always provides the service we need. And the funny thing is that our employees have started to engage in using the V2G technology themselves. They have downloaded the [Nuvve mobile management] app that shows how much capacity there is left on the EV batteries. And they have even started competing on being the most eco-friendly driver of the day. It has become a prestigious thing to have extra power left on the battery when the day is done. And we are happy that our employees really understand the idea behind the V2G technology.
Q: How does Nuvve help your team?
Tonny: We are able to plan all our daily routes via GPS. This means that we know exactly how much power the batteries need in order to fulfill the daily route. But it has been a challenge for us that we also need to charge power from the battery to operate our tools and equipment. Therefore, we have added a LPS (Lithium Power Supply) unit to our EVs. And we are happy that the technology is developing rapidly so that the battery capacity keeps increasing.
Q: Will you be expanding the cooperation with Nuvve to the rest of Denmark?
Tonny: We are interested to expand V2G to our other offices as soon as it’s available.
Also, our mother company is French, and I know that Nuvve recently signed a contract with one of the big French electric companies, so in my opinion, it would be obvious to look at a future project with Nuvve in France. Time is up for the V2G technology to spread to the rest of Europe – and the world.
Q: What do you hope the company’s legacy will be?
Tonny: I have been working for this company for 25 years, so it is a great personal achievement for me that AFA JCDecaux has now reached the goal of being CO2 neutral in Copenhagen. When you start walking down a trail that nobody has ever walked before, there is a certain risk to each step you take. But we choose to see the possibilities, and are not afraid to take the first steps. The footprints that we are leaving behind are all green.
ABOUT JCDECAUX: KEY FIGURES
- 2018 revenue: €3,619m
- JCDecaux is listed on the Eurolist of Euronext Paris and is part of the Euronext 100 and Euronext Family Business indexes
- JCDecaux is part of the FTSE4Good index
- N°1 worldwide in street furniture (528,660 advertising panels)
- N°1 worldwide in transport advertising with more than 210 airports and 277 contracts in metros, buses, trains and tramways (366,000 advertising panels)
- N°1 in Europe for billboards (137,020 advertising panels)
- N°1 in outdoor advertising in Europe (648,570 advertising panels)
- N°1 in outdoor advertising in Asia-Pacific (239,300 advertising panels)
- N°1 in outdoor advertising in Latin America (72,880 advertising panels)
- N°1 in outdoor advertising in Africa (24,170 advertising panels)
- N°1 in outdoor advertising in the Middle East (16,450 advertising panels)
- Leader in self-service bike rental scheme: pioneer in eco-friendly mobility
- 1,061,200 advertising panels in more than 80 countries
- Present in 4,030 cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants
- 13,030 employees
Learn more here.
