Telco makes its procurement process eco-friendly but that is only the beginning

If you listen closely enough, you may hear a low and persistent hum in the office. This sound could come from a few sources but it’s more likely to be from a CPU’s cooling fan than an idling colleague who forgot the lyrics to a hit song from the 1990s.

Whether caused by a lack of maintenance or poorly performing hardware, the system is using energy inefficiently. Multiply the data and software stored in this computer (possibly used only for word processing and Internet communications) with the amount of data one imagines is needed to manage a telecommunications network with millions of subscribers, and the humming will turn into a roar.

This inefficiency, coupled with other high energy consuming technologies and tools, increases the impact that the information and communications technology (ICT) industry has on the environment. According to the 2008 McKinsey report Smart 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age, the ICT industry is set to surpass the aviation industry as a major carbon emitter by 2012.

Realising this, DiGi.Com Bhd, the third-largest telco in Malaysia, launched its climate change and environmental sustainability initiative Deep Green last year. This initiative is fairly ambitious and aims to halve the company’s internal carbon emissions by 2011 even as it continues to expand its network and base stations.

According to one estimate, DiGi currently generates 70,000 tonnes of CO2 annually and aims to maintain its emissions at 70,000 tonnes annually by 2011.

Towards this end, the telco hopes to push forward more efficient mobile and IT networks, reducing energy usage in its buildings and transport and changing the mindset of its employees and vendors on issues relating to the environment and sustainability.

At the launch of the initiative last year, head of strategy and new business, Albern Murty, and head of network engineering, Karim Fakir Ali, said the programme could only be successful if its customers, suppliers and business partners were willing to use its online customer billing services, incorporating specific environmental requirements in its procurement policies and procedures with its suppliers as well as in tenders with its business partners.

Using the example of assessing 3G tenders, they said implementing energy optimisation in their 3G equipment will not only reduce the ecological impact but also cut network costs and help make communication more affordable for everyone.

It is not an easy path to take, the Deep Green road — harder still for the company to walk the talk. The company takes a wide view when assessing the environmental impact of its business and its partners, recognising that a company’s waste, emissions and environmental risks are often closely linked to the goods and raw materials it buys.

DiGi does not anticipate that greening the procurement process will be a breeze. It is aware that a concerted and persistent effort is needed to convince its suppliers and that it may encounter resistance, even internally. It also realises that greener alternatives are not readily available, may not meet performance specifications or may not be as cost competitive.

Eight months into the programme, DiGi reveals that it made mandatory a Supplier Code of Principles, which includes a “green procurement” criterion for sourcing exercises above RM500,000. This criterion carries a 20% evaluation weightage and addresses issues relating to efforts required to manage waste disposal and the recycling of waste material as well as the use of environmentally friendly products and materials.
According to the telco, this criterion was used in the evaluation of its recent technical equipment tender, with a specific focus on materials and manufacturing processes and energy efficiency.

Feedback from its technology department indicates that DiGi is encouraged by the fact that its vendors had few problems complying with its criterion. Many of them, in fact, have already started adopting industry standards and are aware that energy efficiency can reduce operational expenses and the environmental impact significantly.

A growing number of suppliers recognise the fact that the environmental qualities of their products can be a competitive advantage in courting and maintaining relationships. For optimal performance in any supply chain and cost efficiency, these suppliers may also coordinate procurement policies among various departments.

Products may also be retrofitted to minimise environmental impact as the ICT industry starts leaning towards materials and products that have a longer shelf life and fewer disposal problems.

This sourcing strategy has the potential to create value through increased overall cost efficiency and reduced environmental risks and liabilities. Savings from a supplier’s improved efficiencies may also be passed on to buyers in the form of reduced prices. These are some examples of how the telco sees benefits in store, but this is only the beginning.

DiGi’s CEO Johan Dennelind revealed last year that an estimated RM100 million will be spent on the Deep Green initiative in four years, including its community engagement progamme. He stressed that going “green” should not be considered just another business expense and that it could be mutually beneficial for all stakeholders across the value chain.

“This is a sustainability issue and we do not see it as a profit-and-loss issue. We want to make a difference,” Dennelind said.

Switch to electricity efficiency
You can now find out how much electricity each appliance uses in your household with the newly launched website switch.com.my, which includes energy-efficiency calculators and comparison calculators.

The website is part of a 10-year campaign by the Water and Energy Consumers Association (WECA), which aims to promote awareness of the importance of energy efficiency among domestic and industrial consumers. The association, formerly the environmental desk of the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association, mooted the initiative with the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water and in collaboration with the Energy Commission, Tenaga Nasional Bhd and the National Energy Centre.

The website works to empower consumers through knowledge, giving them tools such as the energy-efficiency calculators to enable them, for example, to compare energy-efficiency levels of refrigerators from different manufacturers.

Programme manager at WECA, Piarapakaran Subramaniam, says one method that can be used to change consumers’ habits and promote awareness in energy efficiency is to put the product in their hands and let them make the decision.

Ultimately, the campaign aims to target consumers at all levels of society, primary and secondary schoolgoing children, the general public and industry groups.

The website also includes practical conservation tips, billing facts, energy-usage charges, energy-usage audits and interactive activities such as online pledges and instructional videos on simple and practical changes one can make at home.

Piarapakaran uses an example: “You may not be able to renovate a home to be electricity efficient, but you can move cupboards against the wall. It becomes a heat insulator.”

The first two years of this programme will be able to lead WECA and its partners to further strategise and plan their activities and initiatives for the next decade, says Piarapakaran. “We want to discover what are the immediate challenges and stumbling blocks we may encounter to come up with an energy-efficiency legislation,” he adds.

Visit the website at www.switch.com.my

De Rothschild's Plastiki Expedition
Handsome environmental adventurer David de Rothschild is heading the bold Plastiki Expedition, designed to make people aware of the effects of consumer behaviour on the environment and to appeal to them to deal responsibly with resources and waste. De Rothschild and his organisation, Adventure Ecology, aim to highlight the planet’s environmental hot spots and captivate the imagination, raise global awareness as well as inspire, educate and engage individuals, communities and industry to become agents of change.

The extraordinary expedition, supported by luxury Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen, begins in June this year and will sail roughly 10,000 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a vessel made of plastic bottles and recycled waste products. The 60ft catamaran, designed by marine architects and sustainability experts, is named Plastiki, taking its inspiration from Thor Heyerdahl’s Kon-Tiki expedition of 1947. The Plastiki will sail through a number of fragile and environmentally challenged regions that include the world’s largest ocean waste dump, commonly known as The Great Eastern Garbage Patch, in the central North Pacific Ocean, continue on to Hawaii, the Line Islands and then to the sinking island of Tuvalu.

To commemorate the new partnership, IWC is launching a special limited edition Ingenieur Automatic Mission Earth Edition Adventure Ecology, which will be manufactured carbon neutrally in Schaffhausen, Switzerland. — By Anandhi Gopinath

‘Heaty’ issues
There is a certain charm in being served a plateful of food emanating “heat” from a hot wok over a busy, clanging stove. A lot of heat is applied to the cookware, sometimes up to 450°C.

Belgian company GreenPan has designed developed and manufactured a collection of cookware based on environmentally friendly non-stick technology, using resources and raw materials that are non-toxic and biodegradable. It also boasts lesser CO2 emissions in the product’s manufacturing process. The resulting non-stick frying pan makes searing, flambéing and stir fries a pleasurable cooking experience, even under extreme heat.

GreenPan’s cookware series — Stockholm, Kyoto Bis and New York — consists of a variety of frying pans, casseroles, saucepans, woks and skillet and grill pans. They are available at House of Presentation outlets in KL, Petaling Jaya and Subang. You can also purchase them online at www.asianfoodchannel.com/greenpan/.

Muddy explorations
As the drizzle subsided, a lone kingfisher flew overhead, nestling itself comfortably on a branch in the forest. Below it, 20 students were marching down a narrow asphalt road, leading towards the Kuala Lukut fishing jetty, 30 minutes away from their school — Sekolah Tinggi Port Dickson. They came to a stop at a simple storage hut on stilts by the muddy river.

Dressed in their school uniforms and slippers, the Form Six students appeared a little hesitant but excited at the possibilities of the afternoon — it was their first field trip to a mangrove forest as it was for the accompanying members of the media, including this writer. The trip was one of many programmes held in conjunction with the school’s celebration of Environmental Awareness Week and it was organised by WildAsia and sponsored by the CIMB Community Link Foundation, the banking group’s key corporate social responsibility initiative.

The students were expected to learn more about their neighbouring mangrove forest through this field trip, guided by WildAsia associates and under the watchful eyes of their teachers. After a short briefing, the students armed themselves with bravado and curiosity as well as a checklist and a collection box for specimens. Navigating through waterlogged surfaces, scattered with growing stilt roots and creepy crawlies, the group waded bravely through the estuary to collect specimens from the mangrove forest. Peals of laughter and horror rose above the river’s gentle lapping as we were warned that the tide was coming in.

After 30 minutes, the group returned with their discoveries: crabs, shrimps, shells and seeds, carefully plucked from the mud bed and the trees. We found out that some of the specimens collected were common in our everyday diet — the Belitong snails (Terebralia sulcata) and small shrimps. The mangrove specimens we found, however, were much smaller in size.

Mangroves occupy some 586,036ha in Malaysia. The trees and plants in the mangrove rainforest form a buffer zone between the sea and the coastal areas and host a rich ecosystem of wildlife. The mangrove forest is the breeding ground for all the seafood we eat. The eggs of young fish, crabs and shellfish are deposited by the riverbank. Once they hatch, they feed on the rich nutrients of the forest bed. Some of these creatures, such as fish, leave the riverbanks once they mature.

We learnt that mangrove litter is the main nutrient in the system, such as a simple mangrove leaf. Once it reaches the forest bed and dissolves into organic matter, it is consumed by small shrimps or crabs, which are food for larger fishes, crabs and prawns.

“We learn about some of these creatures in our biology classes, like the Avicennia and Sonneratia trees,” says the school’s Sixth Form Society president Corrina Govinda Kumar. “Some are a little difficult to look for, like the crabs. We had to look closely in the mud.”

The Sixth Form Society had organised trips to Kuala Lumpur and Genting Highlands in the past, but this was their first nature trip, says Corrina. “We have never really experienced the mangrove forest outside the classroom. It’s different to watch (a feature on mangroves) on National Geographic and to actually discover it yourself.”

She adds: “We had a lot of fun. I feel like organising another trip with some friends after school. Maybe go further in (the forest) or in a sampan!”

Carrying home an eco-friendly message
A gigantic bag measuring 15.4m by 8.9m was hoisted up KL Tower recently at the launch of KL Design Week 2009 Festival (KLDW ‘09). The World’s Largest Eco Bag was entered into the Guinness Book of World Records, witnessed by its UK representative Maria Marta Rouanode De Graham.

The gigantic eco-bag was part of a campaign and showcase of environmentally friendly designer bags to highlight the importance of refusing plastic bags and the importance of using environmentally friendly carriers in everyday life. A collection of 1,007 designs printed on recyclable and reusable bag materials was displayed at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa and Capsquare KL.

This exhibition was organised by Become, an environmental community organisation, to highlight the role designers should play in inculcating awareness, change of attitudes and lifestyle among their audiences and followers.

“Going eco is a buzzword all over the world now and designers can contribute to this. We can propagate an eco message using art with this eco-bag,” says KLDW ’09’s president Izuldin Hani. “Eco-bags are perceived as cheap as they only cost RM1 each. But if you put designs from international designers on the bag, it becomes a designer bag. It is a very small way in which design can contribute to an environmental campaign.”

Hoisting the eco-bag to the top of a national landmark may be symbolic and the campaign’s design component may add an interesting approach to environmentalism, but there has been criticism that the impact of such a campaign is limited.

As one observation goes, symbolism in environmental activism may be a strategy to further promote a cause. But the usage of plastic or environmentally unfriendly carriers is an environmental issue that needs to be addressed at the very lowest consumer level. Design in environmental activism needs to be viewed from a bigger angle. Hopefully, from 421m above ground level at the KL Tower, the organisers may have a wider scope for design, lifestyle and environmentalism next year.

This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 752, April 27-May 3, 2009