O2 has become the first UK mobile network operator to be officially certified with the Carbon Trust Standard. The award is recognition of O2s commitment to reduce its carbon footprint and the 15% reduction in energy consumption it has achieved over the past three years. The Carbon Trust Standard is the worlds first carbon award that requires an organisation to measure, manage and reduce its carbon footprint and make real reductions year-on-year.
O2 has implemented a range of initiatives over the past three years to improve energy efficiency. These include a 1.4 million investment in smart metering technology to accurately monitor real-time energy consumption across cell sites, retail premises and offices; the installation of more energy efficiency technology in the O2 network; the replacement of air conditioning units with free cooling fan boxes on certain cell sites; and a reduction in PC monitor standby times. Additionally, a significant internal recycling initiative championed by O2 employees has contributed towards an overall saving of
47,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions.
Part of our success can be put down to a realisation that you dont always need to spend large amounts of money to see energy and carbon improvements, says Telefnica O2 UK CEO, Ronan Dunne. For O2, we saw some of our early wins from simple initiatives such as changing heating & cooling patterns in the offices & contact centres and our awareness-raising Flick the Switch campaign targeting energy wastage. The results improved our bottom line, without excessive expenditure. Really, its all about listening to your people and suppliers, and addressing their needs with minimal energy consumption.