Solid Waste Management

It has been estimated by the Ecological Footprint Assessment Database that each employee in Piraeus Bank consumes about 100kgr of conventional paper (bank transaction forms, newspapers, consumable type of paper) and of recycled A3 and A4 printing paper annually. The use of paper by the service sector is unavoidable and this is why it is one of the most important environmental impacts. Of the 1500 tonnes of paper consumed by Piraeus Bank on an annual basis, more than half is, recycled and chlorine free, A3 and A4 printing paper which affects the environment less in relation to conventional paper.

Piraeus Bank has made a major effort to recycle paper that is discarded. It has applied a special recycling programme at its facilities. Within the framework of this programme it has placed paper recycling bins at all sites (branches and all management units). From 2008 to 2015 Piraeus Bank has recycled more than 3.700 tonnes of paper.

It has been calculated that each employee at Piraeus Bank consumes about 3-4 ink cartridges and toners annually. Around 3.1 litres of oil are required to manufacture the plastic part of an ink cartridge, while 8.6 kg of CO2 are emitted. Moreover, an ink cartridge disposed at a landfill requires more than 450 years to decompose. The consumption of ink cartridges and toners is as important as that of paper and therefore Piraeus Bank has launched used ink cartridge collection programmes, and their disposal has been assigned to a company for reuse. The programme of collection of ink cartridges and toners is applied to all branches and management units and from 2008 to 2015 72,500 items have been sent for reuse / recycle.

Piraeus Bank contributes to the effort to recycle batteries by placing special "AFIS" bins throughout its Network of branches and administration buildings. Participation in the recycling of batteries is not limited to the Bank's employees; it also allows the public to participate. From 2008 to 2015 , a total of more than 47,3 tonnes of batteries had been recycled.

From 2007 to 2015 Piraeus Bank delivered about 248 tonnes of obsolete electronic devices to APPLIANCES RECYCLING S.A. (a recycling company). The recycling of materials used to construct electrical and electronic equipment prevents large quantities of substances from polluting the environment. For instance, the toxic substances contained in various devices are: Lead, Nickel, Cadmium, Mercury etc.