Leading European carpet manufacturer Desso has supplied
the 2nd Professional Passionates (PP) Electric Car Rally
with over 300m2 of blue and green carpet to support the
event's goal to encourage more and more people to take up the
electric car. Both Stef Kranendijk, Chief Executive Officer of
Desso and Rudi Daelmans, Sustainability Director of Desso will be
participating in the rally, which takes place in Amsterdam on
September 14th.
After the great success of the PP Electric Car Rally in
2011 over 250 CEOs, politicians and journalists known for their
socially responsible leadership will drive in more than 250
electric cars again this year. With the Professional Passionates
Electric Car Rally 2012, an attempt will be made to secure a place
in the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest ever electric
car parade on record. You need at least 219 cars to achieve
this.
The event starts with a symposium about "E-Mobility in the
Netherlands now and in the Future" in the Olympic Stadium in
Amsterdam, where Desso has provided 70m2 of blue carpet
for the entrance and for the rally's starting point. The cars will
take a 80 km route through and around Amsterdam and Zaanstad in the
Netherlands, in an effort to raise awareness about the benefits of
electric motoring. Top companies present will include Unilever,
Philips, Nuon, ANWB, KPN, Siemens and Heijmans. The finish line and
evening program will take place at the Passenger Terminal
Amsterdam, where Desso has also provided 250m2 of blue
and green carpet, and where there will be a reception, dinner and
an 'E-party'. After the rally a set of E-Mobility Awards will be
handed to the most progressive companies in the field of electric
mobility in the Netherlands.
Desso's interest in electric cars has been inspired by its Cradle
to Cradle® strategy, which the company has been running since 2008.
Desso aims to design and produce all its products according to
Cradle to Cradle® design principles by 2020. Products must be made
from positively defined* materials that are safe for human use and
can be biologically or technically recycled at the end of their
useful life. Cradle to Cradle® views carpet as being made up of
nutrients that should consistently remain in use. Within the same
strategy, Desso is drawing increasing amounts of its energy from
renewable sources. Key to the philosophy is having a positive
environmental footprint from the start.
* Positively defined = all ingredients have been assessed as either Green (optimal) or Yellow (tolerable) according tot the Cradle to Cradle® assessment criteria.