Zain announces the launch of a new sustainable community initiative to recycle used books and papers. The company has provided containers in 10 different locations at Zain megastores and in Sabah Al Salem University City in Shadadiya. The move comes in collaboration with Enviroserve, Kuwait’s first-of-its-kind recycling facility.
This initiative aims at raising social awareness about the crucial topic of environmental sustainability, as well as providing real-world solutions to encourage the community to adopt positive practices that contribute to lessening the effects of climate change. The campaign coincides with the recent end of the academic year, where tons of books and papers are thrown away in waste bins.
Zain provided containers to collect books, papers, and documents at 7 of its megastores across the nation: main branch in Shuwaikh, Jahra co-op branch, Adan co-op branch, Farwaniya co-op branch, New Kout Mall branch, Bibi Tower branch in Salmiya, and Mishref co-op branch. The company also joined forces with Kuwait University to provide 3 containers at Sabah Al Salem University City in Shadadiya.
To make this initiative a success, Zain has collaborated with Enviroserve, Kuwait’s first-of-its-kind recycling facility. Books and papers will be collected on a regular basis from Zain megastores and Kuwait University and sent to Enviroserve’s facility to be recycled and repurposed, ultimately contributing to the campaign’s goals to lower carbon emissions and tackle climate change.
Zain puts environmental sustainability at the forefront of its priorities, as its social message seeks to create a culture of sustainability within the community by advocating practices like reducing consumption, recycling, using renewable sources of energy, and more.
In one of its recent sustainable projects, the company presented its very own recycled shopping tote bags made entirely out of Zain’s outdoor billboard ads. The bags were offered to customers for their shopping needs in place of plastic bags to encourage sustainable shopping and raise environmental awareness.
Zain’s part does not stop at raising awareness and launching environmental programs, but also extends to reducing its own footprint. The company continues to exert more efforts into reducing the environmental footprint of its operations, including preserving natural resources, reducing energy consumption, recycling waste, implementing green solutions for water and electricity management, monitoring the company’s overall effects on climate change, and more.
Through its corporate sustainability and social responsibility strategy, Zain is committed to building climate change scenarios that are aligned with the Paris Agreement (2015) to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate physical and environmental risks. The company is well aware of the urgent need to tackle the climate crisis the world is facing today.
Zain has scored A- through its participation in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), a reflection of its success in meeting the standards and requirements of the project. Zain is also one of the few companies in the region’s markets to have a membership in the CDP.
Zain established an array of initiatives across its operating companies, including the distribution of reusable bags to all employees, and installing water coolers to reduce the use of plastic bottles. The company also developed its first comprehensive Scope 3 inventory process aligned with the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol guidelines for a more accurate and transparent evaluation of its value chain emissions. This allows it to not only disclose and report in a more concise manner but be able to identify areas in which it can reduce its GHG emissions.
Zain continues to address its strategic approach to addressing climate change under its sustainability strategy. Climate change is a pillar on which the organization has set three focus areas where Zain can address its negative impacts on the environment and create positive ones: Network & Energy Consumption, Strategy & Communication, and Waste Management & Circular Economy.
Enviroserve is considered the first-of-its-kind recycling facility in Kuwait. With the support of the National Fund for Small and Medium Enterprises Development, Enviroserve continues its mission to tackle the e-waste problem, help enterprises and individuals to reduce their negative impact on the environment, and raise awareness of climate change within the community. The facility collects over 2 tons of waste every day and has over 17 years of experience in this industry.