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Our commitment to our environment

HSE Policy
No matter how much we grow, our dedication to ensuring that we maintain the highest level of Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) practices never diminishes. We want to be sure that we’re doing our best to make the world as good a place as we can, and so by doing our part we’re secure in knowing that we’re going that little bit further than merely meeting the bare necessities to make a positive stamp on our surroundings, by managing risk and environmental sustainability in line with our company’s vision.  

Naturally, we’re dedicated to ensuring that we provide a safe working environment for our employees and visitors, and our regularly reviewed and updated policies ensure that this is the case. We’re constantly checking our compliance with the UAE’s regulatory requirements, and making sure that any risks that might affect our employees or the environment are properly identified and controlled, where feasible to do so.

We’ve developed procedures and facilities to enable the highest degree of safety for our staff and anyone on our premises, and through providing adequate information and training to our employees, we can ensure that everyone is capable of maintaining the HSE levels that we set.

But we go beyond that, by helping all members of our team to stay healthy themselves. Well-being is promoted through health management programs, and measures are taken to prevent pollution and ill health wherever possible.

And then there’s our commitment to the world outside of du to take into consideration. Through implementing workplace-based policies, such as recycling, to participating in international initiatives, we’re doing our bit to try to reduce and/or eliminate any negative impacts that we may have on the environment.

Environmental initiatives
It’s inevitable that a company as large as ours has become will have some sort of impact on its surroundings – but what makes us special is the way in which we work to ensure that whatever we do, we take preventative measures to ensure that we cause as few ripples to the environmental pond as possible by practicing high levels of waste and energy management, as well as participating in projects that are geared towards improving the world we serve and live in.

 

Waste Management :

There’s no denying that today’s society as a whole is less than frugal when it comes to our usage of resources, but we make sure that we only use the bare minimum required in order to cut back on the amount of waste that we produce.  We’re corporate eco-warriors, doing our bit to help the UAE, and the world, to stay green and clean by reducing, reusing and recycling wherever possible.

  • Recycled Paper: Trees are one of the world’s most precious resources – not only do they provide beautiful habitats for myriad creatures, but they clean the air and provide the oxygen that we need to live. With this in mind, we’re doing what we can to make sure that fewer forests need to be cut down in order to meet paper demands, by recycling paper wherever possible. This is handled by our UAE-based third party supplier.  For what we do use, we make sure that every page, as far as possible, is printed double-sided to reduce the amount of paper used almost by half. We also have designated waste bins to collect other non-hazardous waste, such as plastic, cans and bottles, which are taken for recycling within the UAE.
  • e-billing and e-newsletters: Gone are the days when we send reams of paper to our customers! Our home and postpaid customers receive their statements through an eco-friendly e-bill system, an online service that not only cuts down on the amount of paper, ink, postage materials and petrol used, but also makes it quicker to view and make payments. We think that’s quite nifty – increasing convenience and flexibility for our subscribers, while reducing our environmental impact in line with our commitment to being a more ecologically responsible company. And our latest news is now sent out through the internet as well, so we can keep everyone up to date with our corporate initiatives while maintaining our level of environmental friendliness.
  • Encouraging the usage of mugs instead of paper cups: Did you know that, according to research, tea and coffee tastes better from your favorite mug?We did. With that in mind, we’re not only cutting down on the amount of waste through our initiative to encourage the use of ceramic mugs over plastic and paper cups in our workplaces… we’re protecting taste buds, too. We provide reusable mugs to our staff, and our vending machines now include ‘No Cup Options’. And to cater to those die-hard non-mug users, we’ve swapped all plastic cups over to paper ones, which are easier on the environment.
  • Printer cartridge recycling: Paper is one of our largest commodities, which in turn makes ink and the cartridges that it comes in one of our biggest sources of waste. To help manage this, we’ve joined forces with HP Middle East as part of the HP Planet Partners program, which has been integrated into each of our offices to reduce the technology wastes produced by recycling toner cartridges from printers and photocopiers.  The return and recycle service ensures that recycled plastic from the collected cartridges is used to produce new, original HP cartridges, along with other products.
  • Printer Settings: In an effort to reduce the amount of paper and ink that we use, our printers are set as default to print in black and white, and where possible all paper is printed double-sided, thereby cutting down our usage by half.
  • Disposal of Non-Hazardous Waste: Designated waste bins throughout our offices help our staff to separate out all recyclable materials. Paper, plastics, cans and bottles are all sent off to their respective recycling plants, so that they are reused rather than polluting our earth.
  • Disposal of Hazardous and Electronic Waste: To ensure that all hazardous and electronic waste we produce is disposed of in the correct manner, we utilize the services of several vendors. At present, we are researching specialist, licensed suppliers who will either recycle or safely dispose of the products, as is necessary.        

Energy Management 

  • Using Solar Panels to Save Energy: When we live in a country that sees so much sun, it makes sense to employ solar panels to take some of the burden off traditional energy sources, and so we’ve implemented our very first solar power project on Sir Bu Nair Island. This initiative will provide mobile coverage for the whole island, using zero fossil fuel energy – which also means that there are zero carbon emissions. Our goal is to implement more solar power systems at remote sites, to improve our environmental friendliness.
  • Switching Off Lights: We make sure that all office lights are switched off after working hours, by posting internal reminders to our staff. It may seem like an obvious solution, but it’s amazing how much energy can be conserved by simply flipping a switch – and it’s surprising how many people neglect to do so.

Fleet Management 

By joining up with a strategic partner, we’ve ensured that our fleet of vehicles has the minimum environmental impact. We only use selected vehicles that have a low engine capacity, and which therefore leave the least impression possible on the environment.

Green initiatives within du

We’re constantly in search of ways in which we can reduce our energy consumption, thereby cutting down on our carbon footprint. This initiative is called Green du, and is focused on our base transceiver stations (BTS), with solutions already underway to help make these sites more eco-friendly.

  • Hybrid Power System through Smart Energy Management Controller: We have a contract with a leading German company to implement a hybrid power system in our base transceiver station (BTS) sites, which will be fully implemented in more than 100 sites by the end of the year. These sites currently run on diesel generators, but by utilizing the Smart Energy Management Controller, we will be able to cut back our consumption of fuel by more than 50%.
  • Raising the Temperature in Mobile BTS Shelters: Normally, our base transceiver station (BTS) sites are moderated to remain around 22◦C, however we learnt through research that by raising the temperature to 25◦C, we were able to conserve 6% energy. However, our telecoms equipment at the BTS sites is designed to cope with high temperatures, and so we’ve now raised the thermostat within them to 30◦C (86◦F), which could result in up to 20% more energy saved.
  • Participation in Clean up the World: We’re proud to have participated in Dubai Municipality’s Clean up the World initiative for the past two years, and to have had our efforts recognized for doing so. The campaign is aligned with our own environmental values and by involving ourselves in such a successful clean-up drive, we’re helping towards making Dubai the most beautiful and cleanest city. We also think World Environment Day is a big deal. Our ‘For a Better Tomorrow’ campaign is all about participating in the United Nation’s world clean-up day and on June 5 every year, we are proud to join millions across the world in raising awareness of environmental issues to ensure a cleaner, green future for our planet.
  • Participation in Earth Hour: In recognition of Earth Hour, we have, for three years running, taken steps towards creating a greener environment by supporting the global drive to create awareness of the consumption of natural resources. This year, all electricity in du’s Dubai Outsource Zone, Dubai Academic City 8 & 9, Al Salam and Lotus facilities was switched off for one hour from 8.30pm, while all of our employees  were also urged to show their support by turning off the lights in their own homes.