SUSTAINABILITY| 22.02.2022
We earn the zero waste certificate at our corporate head offices
During this past year we have used 92% of the waste we generate so as to prevent it from ending up in a landfill and to avoid producing CO2 emissions. We have managed to recycle 351 tons of waste in one year. For this reason AENOR has certified four buildings of our head office as zero waste.
In 2022, we will continue to pursue measures to reduce our waste by 5% and increase recycling by 3%. We are committed to renewing this certificate every year and extending it to more offices and countries.
We launched this project at the beginning of 2021 in four buildings in Majadahonda, Madrid, which has allowed it to continue protecting the environment, position itself as a benchmark in sustainability and add to our slogan#PlayingOurPart, which represents the commitment to building a cleaner, fairer and more egalitarian world.
Objectives achieved
We have eliminated all single-use plastic bottles and cups, thanks to the “MAPFRE Plastic-Free” project.
We have converted our head offices to Zero Waste (Residuo Cero), a certificate granted by AENOR to entities that classify the waste they generate so that it can be reused or recycled and does not end up in a landfill.
During this time, we have installed 122 new containers to encourage separation and recycling of waste. We have also removed wastepaper baskets to ensure that our employees properly separate the amount of waste and avoid mixing organic matter, masks, packaging, paper and toner, among other items.
All this has enabled us to valorize or reuse 92% of the waste we generate to prevent it from ending up in a landfill and to avoid producing CO2 emissions.
351 tons less in landfills
Thanks to Zero Waste, which has been actively supported by some 2,500 of our employees and various collaborators, such as cleaning and maintenance personnel, we have recycled in one year a total of 40 tons of paper, 34 tons of packaging and 15 tons of cardboard, and generated energy through the sorting of a total of 84 tons of organic waste.
We have also managed three tons of technological waste that has been reused and recycled, a measure that has prevented the emission of 7.8 tons of CO2 into the atmosphere.
The Zero Waste project has brought other benefits aimed at promoting recycling and waste reduction, such as reducing food waste, reusing 241 pieces of computer equipment for internal use and donating 600 pieces of computer equipment that were no longer being used professionally use to not-for-profit organizations and schools to extend their useful life. It has also made it possible to set up recycling stations in the buildings’ cafeterias and to ensure supplies of napkins and coffee cups made of biodegradable material.
Less pollution
With Zero Waste, we have implemented a training and awareness-raising plan so that we can learn how to classify correctly and increase the use of other containers already available for recycling paper, toner, batteries and cell phones, among others. The messages we have disseminated include the following: the fact that recycling reduces the carbon footprint, prevents water, soil and air pollution (SDGs 6 and 13), saves raw materials (SDG 12), conserves natural resources and ecosystems (SDG 15) and protects health and well-being (SDG 3).
More countries
MAPFRE’s new 2022-2024 Sustainability Plan, which is more ambitious than previous plans, has incorporated new measures to continue reducing waste generation and to establish gradual reduction plans and programs in more offices and countries, such as Mexico, Brazil and Puerto Rico.
In 2022, we will continue to push measures to reduce its waste by 5% and increase its valorization by 3%.
Plastic-free
This is not the first time that we have taken initiatives to protect the environment. Thanks to the “MAPFRE Plastic-Free” project, implemented in 2019, we use no plastic in Spain, Mexico, Paraguay, Brazil or Peru, and we use reusable glass bottles and filtered water fountains.