CABLE & WIRELESS Jamaica, having secured ISO 14001 environmental certification at its Newport West Technical Support Centre, says it is now implementing several initiatives to eliminate, where possible, and otherwise minimise any negative impact on the environment resulting from its operations.
The Newport West facility now serves as the company's pilot project for environmental management as operations at that location mirror a cross section of activities carried out at other company locations across the island, C&WJ said in a release.
This it said would make for "faster and more efficient implementation of best practices."
Using the lessons learned from the ISO certification bid, as well as ISO processes, the company says it has committed to enforcing conformance to its Environmental Management System (EMS) in all its locations across the island.
So far, initiatives embarked upon under the EMS have resulted in several enhancements to operations "while yielding savings in operational costs." Some of the successful initiatives implemented to date are:
Amendments to the company's purchasing policy to ensure that new operations as well as new goods and services satisfy the requirements of the EMS.
Used motor vehicle oil from the vehicle maintenance process is reclaimed and sold as a lower grade oil by a corporate partner; and staff have been trained to manage used oil according to international standards.
Used cooking oil is now collected by an international recycling company from all company canteens, and the recycled product is resold as soaps.
The recovery of used items such as cables, batteries and toner cartridges are recovered and in some instances sold abroad for the recovery of useful components, recycling and re-use in other industries.
Additionally, C&WJ contracts now require that suppliers of goods and services satisfy basic standards set out in the company's EMS.
The company says its environmental policy is available in detail on its Web site.
