Used cell-phone collection and waste volume

ESG KPI “Used Cell Phone Collection“ (new) Deutsche Telekom Group*

We extensively reviewed the KPIs in terms of relevance for man-agement practices and updated some of them. The reference for comparison of the Used Cell-Phone Collection ESG  KPI  was changed from "number of customers" to "number of devices in circulation." This makes it possible to more precisely illustrate the ratio of the number of cell phones brought to market to the number of those returned. When customers use the devices for longer periods of time, the environment benefits from this decision and, as a result, this has a positive impact on the KPI .

We are reporting on the new KPI  retroactively from 2013.

Around 288,000 mobile devices were collected throughout the Group (excluding TMUS) in 2014, considerably less than in the previous year. 4.2 million devices were collected at TMUS alone in the previous year.

The new Used Cell-Phone Collection ESG  KPI  measures the rela-tionship of the number of collected devices (in thousands) to the number of devices in circulation (in millions). The collected devices are recorded in kilograms or in units. When using kilograms, we apply a Group-wide conversion factor of 7.25 units per kilogram unless another conversion factor is typically used in that country.

Mobile devices in circulation include smartphones, tablets and cordless phones. Units are reported by Procurement for reasons of data quality.

By reporting the Used Cell-Phone Collection ESG  KPI  as an indicator of progress achieved in the resource-efficient and environmentally friendly use of products, we fully cover the G4-EN27 (Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts) GRI performance indicator. By reporting this data we also partially cover the E14-01 (Recycling ratio) EFFAS indicator. This data is also relevant for criteria 7 (Rules and processes), 10 (Innovation and product management), 11 and 12 (Usage of natural resources) of the German Sustainability Code. It is also used for reporting on the Global Compact  principles 7 (Precautionary approach) and 8 (Promoting environmental responsibility).

We extensively reviewed our KPIs in terms of relevance for man-agement practices and updated some of them (see above).

153,000 used cell phones were collected in Germany in 2014, 8 percent fewer than in the previous year.

The new Used Cell-Phone Collection ESG  KPI  measures the rela-tionship of the number of collected devices (in thousands) to the number of devices in circulation (in millions). The collected devices are recorded in kilograms or in units. When using kilograms, we apply a Group-wide conversion factor of 7.25 units per kilogram unless another conversion factor is typically used in that country.

Mobile devices in circulation include smartphones, simple phones tablets and cordless phones. Units are reported by Procurement for reasons of data quality. This KPI  is not relevant to T-Systems.

By reporting the Used Cell-Phone Collection ESG  KPI  as an indicator of progress achieved in the resource-efficient and environmentally friendly use of products, we fully cover the G4-EN27 (Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts) GRI performance indicator. By reporting this data we also partially cover the E14-01 (Recycling ratio) EFFAS indicator. This data is also relevant for criteria 7 (Rules and processes), 10 (Innovation and product management), 11 and 12 (Usage of natural resources) of the German Sustainability Code. It is also used for reporting on the Global Compact  principles 7 (Precautionary approach) and 8 (Promoting environmental responsibility).

As mentioned above, we replaced our "number of customers" reference with the "number of devices in circulation" as a result of reviewing our ESG  KPIs.

Despite this change, we continue to report on the earlier KPI  in order to provide a point of reference for comparison with the previous year.

Our earlier Used Cell-Phone Collection ESG  KPI  indicates the number of cell phones collected (in thousands) in relation to the number of mobile customers (in millions). Data is recorded in kilograms or in units. When using kilograms, we apply a Group-wide conversion factor of 7.25 units per kilogram unless another conversion factor is typically used in that country.

By reporting the Used Cell-Phone Collection ESG  KPI  as an indicator of progress achieved in the resource-efficient and environmentally friendly use of products, we fully cover the G4-EN27 (Initiatives to mitigate environmental impacts) GRI performance indicator. By reporting this data we also partially cover the E14-01 (Recycling ratio) EFFAS indicator. This data is also relevant for criteria 7 (Rules and processes), 10 (Innovation and product management), 11 and 12 (Usage of natural resources) of the German Sustainability Code. It is also used for reporting on the Global Compact  principles 7 (Precautionary approach) and 8 (Promoting environmental responsibility).

Group-wide waste increased by around 9 percent compared to 2013. This increase can primarily be attributed to the increased amount of technical waste produced by Cosmote Group Greece and T-Mobile Polska as well as to the increased amount of hazardous technical waste produced by the DT Group in Germany. The amount of technical waste fluctuates from year to year as the result of projects that are conducted at irregular intervals. For detailed comments on the figures for each individual company, please refer to the interactive benchmarking tool.

 
 

You can find further information on our waste management policies here.

By reporting the amount of waste we generate, we partially cover the G4-EN23 (Total weight of waste by type and disposal method) GRI indicator and the E04-01 (Total waste in tonnes) EFFAS indicator. This data is also relevant for criterion 11 (Usage of natural resources) of the German Sustainability Code. It is also used for reporting on the Global Compact  principles 7 (Precautionary approach) and 8 (Promoting environmental responsibility).