Its impact on sustainability, which means minimizing the environmental impact of its activities, is enhanced by the OTE group, which is celebrating ten years since it placed sustainability at the center of its strategic plan. “Sustainability has been part of the company’s strategic business plan since 2012. Everything that we do or plan, we consider through the prism of sustainable development. We think we’ve hit zero on sustainability issues. There is no time to waste,” OTE President and CEO Michalis Chamaz said at a sustainability strategy event yesterday.

With over 60% of investments in the sector, OTE is the largest investor in telecommunications and one of the largest in the country. It represents 10% of the capitalization of the Athens Stock Exchange, contributes to 2.7% of GDP, creating about 75,000 direct and indirect jobs. “The larger the company, the greater its responsibility and the stronger its impact on society,” emphasized Mr. Shamaz. In addition to significant environmental benefits, the adoption of ESG criteria (environmental, social and corporate governance) is also a condition that banks put forward for providing financing to enterprises. In addition, the quality of social responsibility actions taken by companies is also checked by external auditors in the course of monitoring financial results.

From 2017 to 2021, OTE has reduced emissions from energy consumption at its facilities by 85%.

In this direction, from 2017 to 2021, OTE reduced emissions from energy consumption at its facilities by 85%, mainly through the use of guarantees of origin (certification of the origin of electricity). In addition, from 2020, 100% of the group’s electricity consumption in Greece comes from renewable energy sources, with the group reducing its energy consumption by 7%, to 496 GWh, in 2021, as announced yesterday. While data usage has grown exponentially in recent years, tripling over 2017, the OTE group has reduced its energy consumption by 7% to 496 GWh in 2021. The group is particularly energy intensive, given that a significant amount of energy is consumed. required to power its data centers, the networks it has developed, and its stores throughout Greece. Over the past five years, the group has implemented measures that have contributed to saving 150 GWh of electricity, i.e. the electricity consumption of a city of 120,000 people.

The group is also investing in electrification, gradually replacing more than 300 of the company’s vehicles with plug-in hybrid models. It recently leased 33 all-electric vehicles and will have 215 charging stations completed in the group’s buildings by 2023. In this direction, the group launched a pilot program for the use of electric bicycles by technicians in Messolonghi, Volos, Trikala and Rhodes.

Looking to 2024, OTE plans to collect 400,000 mobile devices and accessories for recycling or remanufacturing, reduce paper use by 25% by 2023, and support zero single-use plastic at all group headquarters. From 2006 to 2021, the group collected more than 1.3 million mobile devices and 549 tons of batteries for recycling.