Environment
Progress in 2007
Australia
| Objectives | Progress against objectives |
|---|---|
| Waste stations to be introduced to all floors to maximise recycling | Centralised waste stations replaced individual desk bins on the refurbished floors of our offices in 2007, making it easy for staff to allocate recyclable and non-recyclable waste to the appropriate bins. The project will be completed in 2008. |
| Reduce excessive use of electricity out-of-hours | To save energy, the use of screensavers was phased out during the year, and all Aviva Australia computers now go from active mode to sleep mode after 10 minutes idle. Screensavers use approximately 50% more energy than sleep mode. However, out-of-hours electricity use was also impacted by increased demand for air-conditioning as a result of our significant growth in 2007. In late 2007, Aviva signed a contract to commence purchasing 25% renewable energy for its Melbourne premises. |
Encourage further paper use reduction to below 9,500 sheets per person |
Paper use decreased by 18% to 7,835 sheets per person. This excludes the use of specialised paper by the IT and Marketing departments, and paper use for printing Investor Statements. |
| Increase the quantity of organic waste collected | There was a marginal increase in the amount of organic waste collected. |
| Look for further sustainable refurbishment opportunities | During the refurbishment of level 2, 1,670m² of existing workstation screens were re-used. All other materials were either recycled or sent to auction for re-use. |
China
| Objectives | Progress against objectives |
|---|---|
| Promote environmental protection to our employees | We promoted a series of activities to help save energy in our head office and branches. We encourage employees to use recycled paper and scanners to reduce paper consumption. |
Hong Kong
| Objectives | Progress against objectives |
|---|---|
| Environmental protection | Supported local green group Friends of the Earth (FoE) as a Jupiter Earth Partner and pledged our support in environmental protection. |
| Engage employees to support environmental protection | Sponsored ‘Power Smart Contest’ organised by FoE. This initiative, aimed at the general public, was an appeal for individuals to reduction their energy consumption to help minimise air pollution in Hong Kong. More than 100 staff, families and friends participated in the event, which saved a total of 4,023,525kWh electricity. We have introduced recycling bins in the office to encourage staff to put recyclable waste in the right place. |
| Continue to reduce the use of paper | We encourage employees to recycle used paper and print on the clean side of re-used paper. All employees’ computers are set with a default to print on re-used paper. |
| Become more energy efficient | We provide guidance to encourage employees to save energy and are conducting a review of energy consumption in the office by auditing the electrical devices currently in use. |
India
| Objectives | Progress against objectives |
|---|---|
| Continue to set up rainwater harvesting projects in Delhi and the surrounding areas | Aviva India launched two more rainwater harvesting projects. |
| Continue our tree planting initiative | We planted 101 trees in Bhatinda, Punjab in North India. |
| Explore opportunities to purchase carbon credits in India as per Aviva Group CSR policy | We have collaborated with Orb Energy on the conceptualisation of this project, and are awaiting approval from Aviva Group to proceed. |
Sri Lanka (Eagle Insurance)
| Objectives | Progress against objectives |
|---|---|
| Implement a property and waste management policy | We implemented the policy, which focuses on the company’s commitment to environmentally sound work practices and creating a culture in which employees and business partners share responsibility for environmental care. We are also investigating suppliers who can dispose of redundant computer equipment in an environmentally sound way. |
| Increase employee awareness of energy and water use, with a view to reducing consumption | The corporate intranet hosts newsflashes to raise employee awareness of energy conservation. Employees are reminded to switch off computers, other office equipment and extra lights when not being used. |
| Continue to reduce the use of paper | We implemented a company-wide communication platform linking 25 regional offices. This has made it possible to replace paper-based systems with electronic ones, thus reducing paper consumption. We also introduced paper recycling bins in our offices. |
Taiwan (First-Aviva Life Insurance)
| Objectives | Progress against objectives |
|---|---|
| Build awareness of reducing carbon emissions amongst employees | We held a staff lights-out campaign in response to the national ‘Lights Out Day’ (22 June). A contest was launched to encourage employees to take steps towards reducing carbon emissions. Employees received points for taking actions on things such as:
|
Highlights
- Eagle Insurance Sri Lanka recycled 26.5 tonnes of waste paper