On the occasion of the World Environment Day, COSMOTE once again invites and educates the public and its employees on ways to integrate the environment protection in their daily life.
As a result of the wide response to COSMOTE’s call since the beginning of the recycling programme more than 12 tonnes of mobile phones and accessories, 53 tonnes of batteries and more than 1,500 inkjets were forwarded to recycling centres.
At the same time, with a new campaign and the message “Green dong, the environment’s knocking on your door” the company informs and urges its employees to work in a responsible and environmentally-friendly manner, by recycling paper, reducing water and power consumption and using special bins located in the company facilities to recycle mobile phones, batteries and inkjets, as well as electrical appliances and electronic devices, aluminium, glass, plastic and paper packages. At the same time, it also contributes significantly to a decrease in paper consumption through a new project entitled “Follow Me Printing”.
It should be noted that the Group’s subsidiaries AMC in Albania, GLOBUL in Bulgaria and COSMOTE ROMANIA in Romania are also launching equally targeted initiatives in terms of both their impact on the environment and their role in informing the public on environmental issues.
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Despite the fact that COSMOTE is one of the companies that have a limited environmental footprint, it continues to adopt environmentally-friendly practices showing consistency and a sense of commitment and transforms environmental awareness into daily practice. It invests in a multidimensional environmental programme that pursues three fundamental goals:
- Reduction of its environmental footprint
- Awareness-raising and sensitisation of the public
- Contribution to the reduction of the environmental footprint of other sectors of the economy.
Awareness-raising and sensitisation of the public and its employees
Apart from its systematic information campaigns and successful initiatives for the Environment, COSMOTE implements a comprehensive environmental policy with regard to the operation of Mobile Telephony and base stations while at the same time informs citizens and its employees in a responsible and systematic manner on health & mobile telephony issues. Monitoring the levels of electromagnetic radiation (radio waves) through the Programme of Continuous Measurements “Field24” it is in open dialogue with local communities and stakeholders.
Moreover, it develops “green products” and services for its customers, such as the e-voucher and the e-bill. In 2010 actually, through the use of the e-voucher and the e-bill 80 tonnes of paper were saved, that correspond to approx. 1,370 trees.
Reduction of its environmental footprint
COSMOTE’s goal is to pursue its business development with zero negative impact on the environment. In this context, it has been implementing since 2006 an Environmental Management System in accordance with ISO 14001 with a view to continuously improving its quantitative performance. At the same time, it focuses on the comprehensive management of its energy needs across all operational activities. In 2010, the company reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 3,500 tonnes though the implementation of specific energy saving programmes, thereby helping to tackle the greenhouse effect.
Moreover, in the context of its efforts to reduce its ecological footprint the company has espoused and applies the principle “Reduce – Reuse – Recycle” in order to achieve a more effective use of limited resources but also to reduce its production of solid waste, that any corporate activity inevitable generates. In 2010, for instance, COSMOTE forwarded to recycling centres more than 724 tonnes of waste (base station batteries, lubricants, light bulbs, paper, etc.).
Contribution to the reduction of the environmental footprint of other sectors of the economy
COSMOTE studies international and domestic trends and seeks opportunities to develop through “green” ICT services that can form an integral part of the solution to the climate change challenge if implemented in the operational functions of the private and public sectors. In 2010, for instance, COSMOTE’s contribution was as follows:
- In cooperation with other companies from the telecommunications sector it supported a study by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE) entitled: “Mobile telecommunications: a catalyst in the new development paradigm for the Greek economy”
- It participated in the EU-funded research project “Cooperative Advanced Driver Assistance System for Green Car” (ECOGEM).The aim of the project is to design and develop an advanced driver assistance system for Fully Electric Vehicles that will propose the most energy efficient route possible and will support recharging at recharging points/stations.