Environmental Initiatives

PJSC Rostelecom is not just an industry leader, but a socially responsible company with a special focus on environmental initiatives.

Rostelecom presented intelligent solutions at the RIF.Technology — 2018 forum in Ulyanovsk

In October, Rostelecom presented intelligent solutions supporting the Ulyanovsk Region’s development at the Digital Economy — Regional Aspect (DERA 2018) international conference held as part of the RIF.Technology — 2018 forum. The Company has been successfully meeting its obligations under energy service contracts in the Ulyanovsk Region.

Rostelecom presented an electric vehicle charging point in the Moscow Region Duma

In June, a round table discussion on electric vehicles as an important part of efforts to reduce air pollution was held at the Moscow Region Duma where Rostelecom presented a commercial solution for charging electric vehicles in yards across the Moscow Region. A smart lamp post for street lighting developed by the Company can be equipped with an electric vehicle charging point in addition to smart controls.

Managing environmental issues and risks

The Company’s administrative function has been comprising operational control department since 2015. The department and similar units across the Company’s branches are responsible for environmental controls. The following indicators are monitored:

• Wastewater discharge
• Concentration of pollutants in the wastewater
• Waste handed over for processing, neutralisation, and landfill
• Air pollutant emissions
• Compliance of the Company’s operations (including projected operations) with environmental protection and safety regulations

The key documents guiding the Company’s environmental management and environmental control are the Environmental Policy updated in early April 2019 and the Regulations on Environmental Operational Control adopted in 2016 and updated in 2018, respectively.

Environmental safety

Rostelecom sees environmental protection as an integral part of its business. One of the environmental safety procedures put in place by the Company is training of managers and employees responsible for making decisions that could have adverse environmental impact, and employees responsible for managing Hazard Classes 1–4 wastes.

Employees are trained in certified training centres under the following programmes:

1. Environmental safety for managers and general business management specialists — 72 hours
2. Environmental safety for managers and specialists with environmental protection and environmental control functions — 200 hours
3. Environmental safety and waste management for Hazard Classes 1–4 wastes — 112 hours

A total 147 employees were trained under the programmes in 2018.

Real estate portfolio optimisation

To reduce property maintenance costs and improve operational efficiency, we seek to optimise our real estate portfolio. Key steps to reduce the real estate portfolio:

• Upgrade (digitalise) PBXs
• Replace indoor telecoms equipment with containerised telecoms equipment modules
• Convert unused PBXs into open-space offices
• Dispose of non-core or unused property assets, lease out unused premises

As a result of our efforts during the year, total floor area of the premises occupied by the Company reduced by 228,683 sq m, or 2.74%, in 2018, and the number of property assets on our books was down by 613, or 2.95%.

Green Office

Our special focus is on workplace greening. The Green Office principles are actively implemented in operating office spaces: reduced energy and water consumption, use of environmentally safe consumables, reduced paper use through electronic document flow, wider use of videoconferencing, etc.

Separate waste collection programme

By sorting and handing over household and office waste for recycling and reuse we mitigate the negative environmental impacts of waste and help address the issue of overflowing household waste sites and landfills. We at Rostelecom want to give a good example of environmental responsibility. In 2017, we developed the separate office waste collection concept, and currently we sort out two types of office waste: waste paper at 52 regional branches and 238 facilities, and used household batteries at 37 regional branches and 112 facilities.

E-billing

Starting from 2013, we deliver bills for our services electronically, a fundamentally new billing model. An e‑bill is a contemporary alternative to paper-based bills. It is a convenient way to receive and store information on payments of bills for telecommunication services. A PDF file contains the same information as a paper-based document but is delivered much faster. E‑bills are sent out automatically irrespective of the staff workload, a subscriber’s place of residence, mail logistics or other factors. It is possible to receive more than one e-bill to the same email address and pay from different regions. The service supports payments via a bank card, online bank, online wallet or other remote payment methods. It is a more convenient and cost-efficient, as well as safer, faster, and greener option. By choosing to go digital we avoid harm to the environment and save trees. Statistically, it takes a several decades old tree to produce 10 thousand paper bills.

Tula residents and Rostelecom saved a grove over one year

In June 2018, the number of Rostelecom’s Tula Branch customers who have signed up to e-billing for telecoms services exceeded 170 thousand. According to the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), saving one tonne of paper a year helps save 17 trees. Residents of the Tula Region who have opted in to be billed electronically save 170 thousand sheets of paper every month, an equivalent of over 14 trees (a 500-sheet ream weighs 2.5 kg).

E-billing beyond the Arctic Circle

On 25 October, the World Paper Free Day, Rostelecom counted the number of its Murmansk Region based subscribers who had shifted away from paper-based billing for telecoms services. We found that over 110 thousand of the Region’s residents have chosen to be billed electronically. In addition, Rostelecom subscribers are increasingly activating our text-based bill notification service. Most of our customers prefer to receive information via the Online Customer Account: over 200 thousand people use it in the Arctic Region.

E-billing in Karelia

Over 15 thousand Rostelecom customers have opted out of receiving paper bills. They all are billed for telecoms services via email or the free messenger app for mobile gadgets. Karelia’s residents first started using Rostelecom’s e-billing service in 2014. For customers, it is a convenient alternative to printed paper bills.

Rostelecom’s Paper Free environmental event in the Altai Territory

In October, Rostelecom’s Altai Branch held the Time to Use Paper Sustainably environmental event, with 2,000 employees participating. The branch HR and administrative staff discussed with employees a range of paper-saving options (print on both sides of the paper, use less draft copies, set the minimum line spacing and narrow margins, etc.). They put «Think twice before printing!» and «How much paper have you wasted today?» posters next to printers, and held a quiz for employees themed «Everything about Paper». In the offices, they put cardboard boxes labelled with stickers reading «Waste Paper» and «Save a Tree» to collect paper waste and hand it over to specialised recycling companies. Our employees bought young trees with their own money and gave them to a sponsored organisation for planting.