Frost & Sullivan, a global consulting firm specializing in market research and technology, has awarded Sprint its 2014 North American Award for Green Excellence. It is the second year in a row the wireless carrier has earned the award, which is presented annually to the industry leader that has clearly demonstrated corporate social responsibility by promoting conservation, re-use and recycling, and global sustainability standards while sharing best practices across its supply chain.
Frost & Sullivan Best Practices Awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in such areas as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.
“Sprint was a pioneer in establishing a long-term vision for more environmentally responsible mobile devices and created a set of rigorous environmental specifications for their device manufacturers,” said Brent Iadarola, global director-Frost & Sullivan Mobile and Wireless Communications. “Sprint also made it a priority to efficiently manage resources used in its business operations to reduce its own environmental footprint. For example, Sprint committed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 20 percent and increase its use of renewable energy from today’s 5 percent to 10 percent by 2017.”
Sprint has leaned on its history of innovation and technology to identify opportunities to reduce its energy demand. By the end of 2012, Sprint had already achieved an 18.81 percent reduction in GHG emissions – nearly reaching its goal of a 20 percent absolute emission reduction by 2017. The progress, in large part, is due to the introduction of more efficient equipment as part of Network Vision, an increase in renewable energy purchases, energy-efficiency improvements at its data centers and a shift to more fuel-efficient SmartWay-certified fleet vehicles.
Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded Sprint a federal grant to deploy rooftop hydrogen fuel cell backup power to support Sprint’s efforts to reduce its emissions. To date, Sprint has deployed approximately 500 hydrogen fuel cells in its network to provide backup power and has secured more than 30 patents related to hydrogen fuel cell technology.
Sprint’s relationship with Underwriters Laboratory Environment (ULE) led to the creation of the first environmental standard for wireless mobile phones: UL 110. At the beginning of 2012, Sprint announced that all devices it sells must go through UL 110 assessment. Last year, UL Environment and the Green Electronics Council (GEC) announced a collaboration to bring UL 110 forward as the standard for mobile phones for the EPEAT® registry to ensure greener electronics. Today, the EPEAT registry is the standard for electronics procurement for the federal government, as well as many local and state governments, and many corporations.
Last month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Sprint with two climate leadership awards. Sprint’s new supplier guide, which provides information to suppliers on how to meet Sprint’s materiality assessment and greenhouse gas measurement and reporting criteria, was highlighted. The guide is free and accessible to the public.
Sprint continues to receive recognition for its leadership in environmental practices. Sprint was recently honored as the most “eco-focused” wireless carrier by Compass Intelligence and has been widely recognized for its environmental commitments to decrease energy use, enable more eco-friendly mobile solutions, and offer industry-leading wireless recycling programs.
Last year, Sprint was the only telecommunications services company named to CDP’s S&P 500 Climate Performance Leadership Index (CPLI), which highlights companies that demonstrate strategies committed to improving their impact on the environment. Sprint was also named for the third consecutive year to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) North America, which tracks the corporate sustainability performance of the top 20 percent of the 600 largest companies by industry in the United States and Canada.
Source: http://www.sprint.com/