We are committed to reducing the energy and natural resources we use, and the amount of waste we create.
As well as a clear moral obligation, there is a sound business case for good environmental management. It can help us reduce costs and meet the expectations of our customers and employees. Many of our larger customers now include environmental performance as criteria in their procurement process.
Policy
Our Environment Policy commits us to:
- Improving our energy efficiency
- Reducing waste
- Increasing reuse and recycling
Energy and waste reduction targets are included in the personal development plans for relevant employees.
Our standards encourage suppliers to improve their environmental performance.
Our environmental management system has been accredited to ISO 14001, the international environmental management standard. This accreditation now covers our whole business including our offices, contact centres, stores, and network.
Climate change
Vodafone Group has set a global target to reduce CO2 emissions by 50 per cent by 2020. This means cutting Group-wide emission from 1.23 million tonnes of CO2 in 2006/07 to around 0.6 million over the next 12 years.
Jonathan Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future, which works with Vodafone on sustainability issues, said: "This is a significant commitment from one of the world’s largest companies. It signals to its millions of customers around the globe that Vodafone is serious about tackling climate change. 2020 may sound a long way away, but it is what Vodafone does over the next two or three years which will determine whether or not they hit that 50 per cent target".
To contribute to this tough target, Vodafone UK is working to improve energy efficiency in its offices and stores, and across its network.
We aim to reduce our contribution to climate change by improving energy efficiency in our network and offices. We also purchase renewable energy whenever possible.
Network energy
Most of our energy – 84 per cent – is consumed by our network.
The air-conditioning systems used to cool base station equipment are very energy intensive. To reduce these we have
- installed free (fresh air) cooling to replace or supplement air-conditioning. This can reduce energy use for cooling by up to 77 per cent per base station (air-conditioning accounts for 30-40 per cent of total energy use per base station).
- installed Savawatt power controls on air-conditioning units which reduce energy used for cooling by around 14 per cent per site.
We have installed automated electricity meter reading (AMR) at over 2,000 of our base stations. We plan to increase this to 7,000 by the end of 2009/10.
We will continue to use renewable energy where this is available.
Energy use in our offices and stores
Our offices and stores make up around 15 per cent of our total energy use. We have eight major office locations and 397 retail stores.
We collect data about the amount of energy required and reasons for its use to inform us about how to make our building management system more efficient. For example:
- Office and call centre lighting, heating and ventilation only run when people are in the building
- Movement sensors in meeting rooms, wash rooms and corridors make sure lights aren’t left on unnecessarily
- An in-store audit makes sure lighting resources are being used efficiently and provides information for future refurbishments
Waste and recycling
We are compliant with the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations which came into force in January 2007, as well as other waste-related regulations.
There are three main sources of waste in our business: our network (including hazardous waste such as back-up batteries); our offices and stores (e.g. paper, plastic and packaging); and old handsets.
Waste reduction in our offices and stores
Office and store waste primarily consists of paper, plastic and other packaging materials. As part of our continuing drive to save paper, we encourage employees at our Newbury offices to use duplex printing and we limit the number of colour printers to discourage colour printing. Typically, 57 per cent of paper waste is recycled.
All office sites now segregate waste into three waste streams: paper and cardboard; cans and plastic bottles; and general waste. Our retail stores recycle paper and cardboard where possible and separate any hazardous waste such as batteries. We also recycle waste oil from our restaurants, fluorescent light bulbs and landscaping waste which is turned into compost and returned to the site where possible.
Paperless billing
We encourage our customers to receive their bills on line. Customers can also opt to receive a summary bill by text message. Corporate customers can received their bills on CD.
Network waste
None of the waste generated by improvements to our network goes to landfill. Some of the redundant equipment is sold for reuse in other countries increasing access to communications.
Network equipment that cannot be resold is broken down into material streams which are reused or recycled separately. Hazardous materials are disposed of safely. For example, the lead and plastic from batteries are separated for recycling and 50 per cent of the battery acid is converted into gypsum, the rest is neutralised and disposed of as effluent. As small amount of waste – around three per cent – is incinerated for energy recovery.
Travel
- We encourage car sharing through the Journey2Share web site and by giving an extra 5p per mile per passenger in addition to the standard mileage rate for essential shared business trips.
- We offer interest-free loans for season tickets, bikes and scooters.
- Our free shuttle buses at the Newbury HQ emit 30 per cent less CO2 than the previous models.
- Company car drivers can choose from a Green Fleet of cars which emit equal to or less than 120g CO2/km.
- We provide a driver’s guide to reducing environmental impacts.