Sourcing Environmentally-Friendly Paper for Philatelic Products and Stamps

Special Stamp Issue – " Green Living"

Special Stamp Issue – " Green Living"

We use environmentally-friendly paper to print all our philatelic products, including picture cards, first day covers and souvenir covers. In addition, all stamps are printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Mix paper, which is sourced from forests that operate with strict FSC environmental guidelines. It is manufactured under the European Community Eco-Management and Audit Scheme and is suitable for recycling. The Environmental Scheme is designed to help organisations manage and improve their performance in environmental protection.

A set of four special stamps on the theme of "Green Living" was issued in April 2011. All associated philatelic products on this stamp theme, including the mint stamps, stamp sheetlet, first day cover, souvenir cover and presentation pack, were printed on FSCTM-certified paper.

Our Stamp OnNet online ordering platform, launched in 2005, enables customers to subscribe our Local Standing Order Service (LSOS) online. By March 2012, more than 13,900 local standing order customers and 1,170 overseas mail order customers had registered for stamp purchases via Stamp OnNet, doing away with the need for physical application forms. Currently, over 23,000 LSOS customers also choose to receive philatelic newsletters and stamp order collection letters by email, helping us to further reduce paper consumption.

 

A Green Workplace

We continued to maintain a good standard of indoor air quality at all post offices with regular checks conducted by the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD). Environmental improvement measures will continue to be incorporated into our new building works.

 

Postal Vehicle Fleet

Newly Introduced Electric Vehicle

Newly Introduced Electric Vehicle

Hongkong Post's vehicles use unleaded, low-sulphur fuel and measures to improve fuel efficiency, such as switching off vehicle engines while waiting, are now a standard practice. We have also added environmentally-friendly (EF) vehicles to our fleet, including Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) vehicles and medium-sized trucks that meet Euro V standards. We have replaced a petrol saloon car with our first electric vehicle to support the Government's initiative on wider adoption of electric vehicles. In some rural areas, bicycles are used for mail deliveries.

Hongkong Post utilises the services of the EMSD to ensure that our postal vehicles are well-maintained and have minimal environmental impact. The EMSD's environmental management system conforms to internationally recognised ISO 14001 standards.

 

Green Management

Hongkong Post is committed to promoting green management at various levels. Our Environmental Enhancement Steering Committee is tasked with overseeing the efficient use of resources and implementing energy-saving measures within the department. Building on the achievements in recent years, Hongkong Post has continued to make encouraging progress in promoting green management and energy saving. Some of our key initiatives during 2011/12 are set out below:

  1. Replacing some halogen spot lamps with light-emitting diode (LED) lights and magnetic ballasts by electronic ballasts to reduce electricity consumption;
  2. Adopting the green specifications promulgated by the Environmental Protection Department for products in making purchases as far as practicable;
  3. Incorporating the green guidelines into the new cleansing contracts;
  4. Incorporating the emission standards into the invitation of tenders for new vehicle hiring services contracts; and
  5. Auditing our compliance with green guidelines, and identifying opportunities for improvement.

Hongkong Post supports the HKSAR Government's recommendation that the indoor air temperature should be maintained at 25.5o C, and we closely monitor energy consumption at all of our premises.

We continue to closely monitor the use of photocopying paper and encourage staff to avoid printing documents unnecessarily. More than 30% of our photocopying paper is made from recycled paper.

 

Promoting green awareness

Hongkong Post colleagues planted more than 100 trees in the Tree-Planting Challenge 2011

Hongkong Post's Workplace Hygiene Charter helps us to maintain a high quality working environment for all employees. Environmental protection issues also regularly appear on the agendas of management and staff briefings. All employees are encouraged to contribute ideas for environmental initiatives.

Vocational training programmes comprise an environmental protection module, which introduces staff to our Environmental Management System and provides useful tips for saving energy. In 2011/12, 496 staff members took this module. Seminars, workshops and visits relating to environmental issues are held regularly, with all staff having the opportunity to participate. We also regularly circulate internal environmental guidelines and encourage staff to put environmentally friendly measures into practice, both in the workplace and at home.

Hongkong Post takes every opportunity to promote environmental awareness among our staff. In 2011/12, HongKong Post staff attended the "Workshop on Green Government Buildings" organised by the Environment Bureau, the " Seminar on Green Procurement" held by the Environmental Protection Department and the "Driving Training on Toyota Coaster LPG Light Bus" held by the EMSD. In support of the Hong Kong International Airport Carbon Management Programme, we continued to monitor carbon emissions at our Airmail Centre. In addition, we participated in various environmental campaigns initiated by other organisations, including the "Tree Planting Challenge 2011" organised by Friends of the Earth (HK) in April 2011, "The Community Chest Green Day" organised by The Community Chest in June 2011, "Hong Kong No Air-Con Night" organised by Green Sense in September 2011 and "Earth Hour 2012" organised by World Wide Fund for Nature in March 2012.