Vodafone flaunts green credentials

Vodafone is making significant inroads into becoming a more green and environmentally responsible company, according to its latest corporate responsibility report.

The company said limiting contribution to climate change is a priority due to recent business growth and a related surge in its network's energy demands.

The report states that the company's total carbon dioxide emissions fell by 12 per cent during the past year, while the energy efficiency of new network equipment increased by 25 per cent.

Vodafone says 80 per cent of the CO2 emissions from its energy use are associated with running its network. In the 2006/07 financial year, total CO2 output was 1.23 million tonnes, 0.99 million from running the network.

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The group has stated it aims to reduce the CO2 emissions per unit of transmitted data by 40 per cent between 2005 and 2011.

Vodafone also increased its renewable energy use by 28 per cent in the past year, while the number of handsets collected for re-use or recycling went up by 59 per cent on the previous year.

The latter will help in complying with the European WEEE - waste electrical and electronic equipment – directive which comes into force on 1 July.

The directive makes producers of new tech equipment responsible for paying to recycle or safely dispose of products once they are no longer in use.

A global energy management team has been created within Vodafone, responsible for implementing targets in energy use.

Other initiatives include replacing energy intensive air conditioning at base stations with more efficient free cooling, and identifying sites where energy usage could be further reduced.