While climate change is a primary risk to our environment, we also recognise our responsibility to provide stewardship in other environmental areas including waste management, material consumption and water management. Our approach to addressing such issues has also enlightened us on the potential benefits we may obtain, spanning from cost savings to efficiency optimisation. Waste management protocols are adapted within each business segment to address challenges specific to them. In line with this approach, our Healthcare Support division manages waste generated across a broad spectrum of sources, including chemical, clinical, heavy metal, electrical and electronic equipment, and kitchen waste. Moreover, we closely adhere to waste management standards established by the Department of Environment (“DOE”) of Malaysia, particularly on waste incineration practices by treating emissions before they are released into the atmosphere. As for our Property & Facility Solutions division, we constantly seek new ways of handling waste, thereby contributing to improved operational efficiency. Besides waste management, we acknowledge the importance of resource recovery and have allocated approximately RM15 million to construct a dedicated plant that produces our own recycled asphalt premix. The plant is expected to go live in Quarter 4 of 2023 and deliver a potential carbon dioxide equivalent (“CO2 eq”) reduction of 800 tonnes per year (see Material Utilisation on page 144 for further details). As for our commitment to reducing water consumption, we take full advantage of our rainwater harvesting capabilities and have channeled rainwater for other usages, such as cleaning the RSA along the North-South Expressway and irrigating plants. In encapsulating all key sustainability matters within our operations, 98% of our operating sites are ISO 14001 certified, ensuring that robust environmental management systems are consistently established across the Group. Maintaining Our Environmental Stewardship MINIMISING ENVIRONMENT IMPACT WASTE MANAGEMENT As a multinational entity, we are cognisant of the waste our business activities and operations generate. In order to deliver efficient, effective and responsible waste management for both general domestic waste and scheduled waste, key strategies/actions taken include: Reducing Paper Consumption through Digitalisation • With the goal of imparting a sense of accountability in the consumption of printing paper, a new practice will be initiated during 2023 whereby departmental consumption reports will be prepared and presented to the Head of Units on a quarterly basis. • Paper waste typically accounts for a large proportion of solid waste generated, making the digitalisation of our processes vital in curbing unnecessary paper consumption. In alignment with this approach, we leverage on digital solutions such as Adobe Sign to help streamline our day-to-day operations. Healthcare Waste Management Services (“HWMS”) • As an ethical HWMS provider, we ensure that our stakeholders in healthcare facilities can work in a safe and healthy environment without fearing exposure to health hazards or risks of infections. Our utmost priority is the implementation of stringent protocols under a comprehensive waste management framework to minimise waste generation, promote recycling, ensure proper disposal of hazardous waste, and engage employees in environmentally responsible practices. • Within our Healthcare Support division, we remain steadfast in averting the negative impacts that the by-products of our clinical waste incineration activities generate. To this end, we are keenly exploring non-conventional, fossil fuel-free alternatives. • As a whole, our scope of work covers healthcare waste collection, transportation, storage, hygiene, infection control, treatment, and spillage management. For each case, our trained HWMS team oversees the segregation at the source. Following which, these scheduled and unscheduled waste are collected, stored and transported out according to procedure for each waste type, and ensuring strict adherence to local regulations. • Lastly, with a team of over 40 employees (including engineers, logistic coordinators, drivers etc.) dedicating their effort and time to this service, we have managed to make the following contributions. Recycling campaign • I n support of a recycling culture, our Infrastructure Services division partnered with our client, PLUS Malaysia to organise a recycling campaign with the theme ‘Asingkan! Demi Masa Depan Kita’ in three (3) separate RSA along the North-South Expressway. The participating RSAs were from the Rawang, Gunung Semanggol and Ayer Keroh locations. The campaign held on February 2022 included exhibition booths, information sharing sessions and games conducted around the theme of recycling. Waste segregation activities were also carried out with PLUS Malaysia, the results of which were monitored by weighing the segregated waste. Following the success of this event, more recycling campaigns emphasising on the importance of 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) will be organised to encourage greater participation. MINIMISING ENVIRONMENT IMPACT a. Total Paper Consumption (No of A4 reams used) 2019 2020 2021 2022 8,062 14,898 21,353 902 The drastic decrease between FY2022 and FY2021 is due to the backlog inventories of A4 paper that were not used in the previous years and also as a result of our flexible working policy where staff are working remotely. As mentioned above, UEM Edgenta is transitioning towards digital documents, hence the decrease in paper consumption. Disposal of electronic waste (“e-waste”) • E-waste forms part of the scheduled waste we generate alongside waste oil, contaminated containers and filters. • In order to ensure the safe discarding of electronic devices that carry severe environmental and health risks, the HSSE department has put in place a designated e-waste bin at the lobby of Menara UEM. The e-waste bin accepts various forms of electronic products ranging from small home appliances to mobile phones, computer accessories and used batteries. p.142 p.143 UEM EDGENTA BERHAD INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2022 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 SUSTAINABILITY STATEMENT
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