Environmental footprint
Environmental awareness is at the very core of our business. By providing companies with alternatives to travelling through our products and services, we enable them to lower their greenhouse gas emissions.
We believe environmentally sustainable business to be a prerequisite for continued profitability.
Analysis of environmental impact
To identify Tele2’s biggest environmental issues, an external party performed an analysis of our environmental impact during the year. In the analysis, four main risk areas were identified.
- Extraction of raw materials and assembly of components during the manufacturing of devices.
- Rolling out and running networks.
- Transportation of goods and staff.
- Disposal and recycling of materials.
The results from the analysis have been important when laying the foundation for Tele2’s continued efforts within the environmental area.
New policy and goals
In December, a new Environmental Policy was adopted. It applies not only to the organisation itself, but also both downstream and upstream, including affiliates, vendors and suppliers. New environmental goals on short, middle and long term have also been adopted. More information about the goals, see page 7, Our focus.
Extraction of raw materials and assembly of components for devices
Tele2 distributes tens of thousands of internet communication devices every year. To ensure that environmental issues are taken into consideration during the entire manufacturing process, Tele2 has increased demands on suppliers and sub-suppliers. When entering into a contractual arrangement, suppliers now have to assure to uphold Tele2 standards by signing Tele2’s Code of Conduct.
Rolling out and running networks
When rolling out, running and closing down sites and networks Tele2 takes the greatest environmental care especially in sensitive surroundings. Tele2 also minimise the visual intrusion of masts and antennas by taking this into consideration when choosing the site and to actively use design as means of mitigation.
The cooling of the base stations requires energy and is therefore one of the main sources of Tele2’s greenhouse gas emissions. In an effort to lower emissions all new base stations are equipped with fresh-air cooling which is much more energy efficient than older systems. When cooling systems in existing base stations need replacing, fresh-air cooling is continually being phased in there as well.
Tele2 reports its greenhouse gas emissions to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP).
Transportation of goods and staff
The other main source of greenhouse gas emissions is the transportation of goods and staff. In an effort to minimise emissions, goods are purchased locally when possible and employees are encouraged to meet virtually as much as possible by using telephone or video conference. Environmentally friendly cars are continuously replacing existing company cars. By the end of 2010 environmentally friendly cars constituted near, 80 percent of the car fleet in Sweden.
Waste
Effective end-of-life management for both telecom devices and network equipment is critical because they contain precious and potentially toxic materials. Recovery and reuse of these materials prevent them from entering and polluting the environment, thus reducing the amount of raw material extraction needed in the first place. Tele2 continually strives to increase the percentage of recovered and reused material from network equipment.
During 2010, a programme aiming at increaseing the amount discarded devices handed in were introduced in Sweden and in the Netherlands. The customers are given a voucher for every old device handed in which can be used in Tele2 shops.