Sustainability Report 2012 - Generali Versicherung AG

In all countries, IT waste, comprising of discarded electronic devices, is returned to suppliers or to plants responsible for disposaland the retrieval of reusable parts. IT waste trends may be irregular with peaks (as seen in Spain in 2012) due to the fact thatcomputers, monitors and other IT materials are replaced on a cyclical basis with new devices that are more sustainable from anenvironmental point of view.63.7% of discarded toner cartridges are returned to suppliers to be recycled or refilled, while the remaining 36.3% are disposedof in accordance with the regulations. For Germany, the data are not yet available for all companies but the reporting criteria arebeing standardised in order to achieve this goal.Hazardous waste (neon tubes, batteries etc.) represents only a tiny percentage (0.6%) of separately collected waste andis disposed of separately in an appropriate manner using specialist companies and by maintaining registries and mandatorydocumentation, as per the relevant regulations in force in the various countries. More specifically, 324 quintals of hazardous waste(+2.5%) was collected during the year together with 0.8 quintals of sanitary waste (-0.8%), such as gauze and bandages, whichwas used at sites where there is an infirmary.In all of the countries wood is also collected at some sites and sent for recycling in its entirety; in addition, the same containersand bags are used multiple times for the internal transfer of various materials.Initiatives to reduce waste in 2012CountryType of initiativeAustriaFranceSpainUsed oil from company canteens is recycled as biofuel and around 140 used computers weredonated to schools and NGOs.For the first year 30% of organic waste from the company canteen was disposed of usingan internal incinerator; this process made it possible to improve the management of spacesand also had a positive effect on transportation as the waste no longer needs to be movedelsewhere.An analysis was also carried out to seek ways of increasing the proportion of recyclable wasteas regards both electronic devices and consumable materials.For the first year, containers for the collection of used batteries and sanitary waste wereintroduced at the Madrid and Barcelona sites.Waste reciclying, China132 | Assicurazioni Generali - Sustainability Report 2012