Globe Telecom releases enhanced environmental policy

Leading Philippine digital solutions platform Globe has released its revised Environmental Sustainability Policy, underscoring the importance of circularity as it promotes mindful consumption, sustainable production, carbon reduction, resource efficiency, and comprehensive waste management strategies.

The enhanced policy supports the Philippines' Extended Producer Responsibility Act of 2022, which mandates large companies to recover 20% of the plastic they release into the market in 2022. This target recovery rate will increase to 80% by 2028.

"Globe stands at the forefront of adopting sustainable practices in our operations. We are taking this a notch higher with an enhanced environmental policy on circularity which aligns our processes and products with the call for more responsible consumption," said Yoly Crisanto, Chief Sustainability and Corporate Communications Officer, Globe Group.

"Our circularity initiatives will include our ecosystem of brands to help habituate our customers to sustainable practices. This has the potential to further grow sustainability practices among Globe users, making it part of their daily lives," she added.

Here are some of the company's initiatives to promote circularity:

Deployment of the Eco-SIM, which is made from 100% recycled materials, for new postpaid accounts in 2022;
Replacement of nearly five million traditional tarpaulins with the more environment-friendly material, stone paper; and

Launch of the new packaging design for Globe's GFiber Prepaid WiFi product line, with the goal of transitioning the rest of their Globe At Home products to more recyclable and upcyclable materials.

The innovative packaging can be repurposed into a laptop stand to extend its lifespan, and was ensured to have been made as environmentally-responsible as possible.

Globe has also implemented the following measures to reduce plastic and paper waste:

"'Wag sa Single-Use Plastic" (WasSUP) program - advocating plastic reduction among its employees and concessionaires in its offices:

Standardizing cashless transactions using GCash
Working to incentivize employees who adopt reusable containers in the company's cafeteria

Encouraging concessionaires to avoid using single-use plastics wherever possible (i.e. incorporating biodegradable options for utensils or opting for more reusable options)

Introduction of e-business cards for employees
Globe also recently contributed to the GSMA's Strategy Paper on Circular Economy for Mobile Devices. The company's E-Waste Zero Program collected and recycled more than 191,000 kilograms of electronic waste in 2022, bringing the total to over 1.8 million kilograms since 2014. This year, Globe established a partnership with CompAsia which allows for old employee service units to be remarketed rather than discarded.

Understanding that it takes collective action to be able to truly take care of the environment, Globe launched the online learning platform Camp Kalikasan, in collaboration with WWF-Philippines. It offers interactive exercises and learning modules that encourage responsible environment practices – covering topics like waste management, energy efficiency, climate change, and biodiversity.

"Our approach to climate action is all about collaboration," Crisanto said. "More than digital solutions, we give our customers and other stakeholders the tools and knowledge to continue to practice sustainability."

Globe urges everyone to actively engage in mindful consumption and sustainable production practices. Be part of Camp Kalikasan and take the Waste Management Module to learn more about plastic and proper waste management. Donate your old mobile phones and broadband devices through the E-Waste Zero Program of Globe.