ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY

Environmental Management Policy

Environmental and Energy Management

FET is committed to improving energy efficiency by implementing the Energy Management System (ISO 50001) and Environmental Management System (ISO 14001) certification. We have also implemented the GHG Inventories (ISO 14064-1) to effectively manage the environmental impacts of energy consumption. To guide our efforts, we have established the "FET Environment and Energy Policy " and "Statement of GHG Management Policy." Our goal is to conserve energy and improve efficiency in all stages of telecom services, while actively contributing to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

FET established the "Environment and Energy Management Committee" as the dedicated unit responsible for implementing energy-efficient management practices within the company. Since 2011, FET has progressively adopted ISO international standards to enhance its management mechanisms and has formulated an "Environment and Energy Policy" to promote environmental awareness among both internal and external stakeholders. This policy encourages customers, suppliers, contractors, key business partners, and merger targets to develop energy management measures for various operational sites, implement energy-saving initiatives, and assess and verify the effectiveness of their execution. For our employees, we provide education, training, and raise awareness through environmental policies to enhance their understanding of climate change and environmental protection. This approach helps them grasp the impact of their work activities on the environment, thereby supporting the company's pursuit of environmental sustainability goals.

Environment and Energy Management Committee

The FET "Environment and Energy Management Committee" is established under the "Risk Management and Information Security Committee", which regularly reports major environmental and energy issues to the Board of Directors every year. The Environment and Energy Management Committee is a senior executive-level committee. It is chaired by the Chief Financial Officer and includes top-level managers from major departments, such as Vice Presidents and Associate Directors. The committee holds regular quarterly meetings to discuss energy and environmental goals and performance. FET has also established the Environment and Energy Management Measures, which covers management of energy and environment, greenhouse gas reductions and responses to climate change.

Environmental Management System

FET has already implemented ISO 14001 Environmental Management, ISO 50001 Energy Management, and ISO 14064-1 Greenhouse Gases, and also seeks external assurance. The coverage and results of each environmental management system are as follows. The primary objectives of ISO 14001 include reducing waste by 2%, decreasing water consumption by 1%, implementing ISO 46001 Water Efficiency Management Systems, establishing a carbon management platform, fulfilling the FET Biodiversity and Zero- Deforestation Commitment and Operational Methods, achieving an 80% questionnaire response rate for the Supply Chain ESG Sustainability Risk Self-Assessment of the top 500 suppliers, and attaining an 83% utilization rate of electronic bills. Additionally, the ISO 50001 goal is to conserve 7.87 million kWh of electricity, invest in or construct solar power plants, and participate in the RE100 initiative.

  • 1. The Energy Management System has adopted the ISO 50001:2018 version.
  • 2. The greenhouse gas inventory follows ISO 14064-1:2018, and includes FET Telecommunications, New Century InfoComm Tech, KGEX.com Co., Ltd., Arcoa Communication Co., Ltd., Data Express, Home Master Technology Ltd., Information Security Service Digital United Inc., Yuanshi Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Prime EcoPower Co., Ltd., Fet Property Insurance Agent, Yuan Cing Co., Ltd., Nextlink, Microfusion Technology Co., Ltd., Mission International Co., Ltd., Microfusion Technology Co., Ltd. (Malaysia), Feis, Diligent Industry Services Co., Ltd., Pacific Advanced Interconnect Products Limited, Digital Co., Ltd. (Cayman), Ideaworks Entertainment Co., Ltd., Nextlink Technology Co., Limited (Singapore), Nextlink Technology Co., Limited (Hong Kong) Cloud Technology, Microfusion Technology Co., Ltd (Hong Kong) Technology, Digital United Information Technologies Inc. (Shanghai), Diligent Industry Services Co., Ltd. (Hong Kong) Shanghai Nice Ling Technology, and five other companies. These five companies conducted their first greenhouse gas inventories in early 2022. In 2023, in compliance with the new greenhouse gas inventory regulations in China, only inventory checks are conducted without verification. The greenhouse gas emissions of these five companies account for only 0.008% of the total.
FET Overall Energy Management and Conservation

In order to facilitate the transition to renewable energy, FET establishes yearly objectives and encourages energy-saving initiatives for key departments with high energy consumption. These departments include base stations, data centers, stores, offices, and logistics.

  • *1.Energy Use Intensity(EUI): power consumption in kWh/total floor area of the building (Unit; kWh/m2*year)
  • *2.In FY2023, the percentage of renewable energy of total energy used of FET is 0.62%, and percentage of renewable energy of total energy used in data centers is 2.86%.( The target for renewable energy use in equipment rooms for 2023 was 2.5%)

Waste Management

1. Waste Analysis and Management Regulations

FET has conducted an inventory of waste usage and identified key improvement areas through the implementation of the ISO14001 environmental management system and third-party verification. According to the inventory results, the total amount of waste of the company is 1475.773 tons, among which business waste (lead-acid batteries) is the main part, accounting for 982.668 tons (67% of the total waste). This part has been 100% entrusted to the licensed waste removal and disposal contractors approved by the Environmental Protection Administration for recycling operations. General waste amounts to 251.178 tons (17% of the total waste), 19% of which is recyclable items (waste paper and paper containers account for 94% of the recyclable items, waste plastic containers account for 4% of the recyclable items), and 81% is non-recyclable waste, all of which has been entrusted to the licensed removal and disposal contractors approved by the Environmental Protection Administration for related recycling and disposal operations. Other business waste (optical cables) and non-hazardous business waste amount to 241.926 tons (16% of the total waste), which have also been entrusted to Ericsson and the licensed removal and disposal contractors approved by the Environmental Protection Administration for related recycling and disposal operations. In addition, general waste currently undergoes routine daily statistics and reporting, and old furniture is auctioned off to employees or donated.

The analysis indicates that lead-acid batteries constitute most of the company’s waste, used primarily for maintaining the operation of UPS/SMR equipment in computer rooms/base stations. The company has begun assessing the feasibility of using more environmentally friendly batteries, such as lithium iron batteries. If the safety of lithium iron batteries is confirmed, they will be gradually replaced. General waste continues to be statistically monitored and reported daily, implementing waste reduction and increasing recycling rates. Employees perform the first classification, and outsourced cleaning contractors conduct the second classification in the centralized recycling areas within office premises, avoiding classification errors and increasing recycling rates. Additionally, regular resource recycling education and training will be conducted annually to engage employees in the process.

2. Waste Reduction Goals, Actions, and Training

The company continues to promote waste reduction and increase resource recycling rates for general waste. In 2023, it set a goal to reduce per capita general waste by 4%, which has been achieved. For 2024, the goals are zero growth in non-recyclable waste and a 2% increase in the recycling rate of recyclable waste. Annual company-wide environmental sustainability education and training will be conducted in the fourth quarter to enhance employees' awareness of environmental sustainability and correct waste reduction and classification concepts, implementing reduction actions through the following themed activities.

  • All asset management units coordinate with procurement units to consult with vendors during equipment decommissioning to evaluate the feasibility of recycling various equipment components, thereby reducing waste generation.
  • Tissue Paper Consumables: Inventory and promote the disposal of tissue paper in toilets to reduce waste generation
  • Furniture Auction: Discarded furniture is sold to employees at low prices, reducing waste generation and disposal, while benefiting employees in need. A total of 1,399 items weighing 31,286 kilograms have been reused.
  • Replace Bottled Water with Mugs: Disposable paper cups and bottled water are no longer provided in office premises, replaced by company-provided mugs.
  • Strengthen Paper and Paper Container Recycling: Waste paper and paper containers account for 94% of recyclable items in general waste. The company has set all office machines to print on both sides and encourages employees to digitize documents to reduce paper printing and increase the recycling rate of paper containers.
  • Recycle copier consumables to suppliers.

 

3. Collaborating with the Value Chain to Implement Waste Circular Innovation and Management
Circular Economy Strategies and Actions:

In addition to the above waste reduction and management measures, FET is also committed to reducing waste generation through collaboration with suppliers and business partners in promoting innovation and R&D. As a leading sustainable brand, FET's annual procurement expenditure of billions of NTD and thousands of supply chain partners provide the best opportunity to establish a resilient supply chain for the circular economy, giving retired usable equipment a new lease on life. We look forward to the establishment of this circular economy platform to inspire upstream and downstream value chain partners to adopt innovative circular economy thinking, making FET's supply chain a model of environmental sustainability and shared growth.

1. Considering the merger with Asia Pacific Telecom, FET actively analyzes the overall network coverage optimization and energy-saving and carbon reduction targets. Base stations with overlapping coverage goals are consolidated and dismantled to reduce the waste of communication resources and decrease power consumption to achieve energy-saving and carbon reduction targets. Additionally, to reduce the total amount of demolition waste and promote reuse, the facilities of base stations to be dismantled, including towers, cabinets, and power systems, are exchanged or sold to industry peers. This policy achieves the reuse and value enhancement of decommissioned facilities. A total of 44 base stations were dismantled, and 25 towers, 7 cement pole antenna brackets, and 21 cabinets were reused.

2. FET held two series of circular economy workshops in 2022-2023. The sessions and themes of the workshops are listed in the table below.

First Circular Economy Workshop

"Partnering with Suppliers:
Launching the Circular Economy
Innovation Value Chain Workshop"

We extended invitations to partners in the mobile phone, network equipment,computer
peripherals,and facilities sectors, including 30 companies such as Ericsson Taiwan,
Nokia Taiwan, and Delta Electronics. Through in-depth communication, discussion, and
brainstorming,we aimed to create opportunities and models for the circular economy
leveraging the core expertise of each supplier.

Second Circular Economy Workshop

"How to Track the
Circular Flow of
Materials"

We convened key internal units for trend briefings and capacity building, followed by group
discussions and brainstorming sessions. Ultimately, five innovative circular economy solutions
were conceived to maximize resource utilization, further reduce carbon emissions,
and contribute to achieving net-zero goals.

3. In addition to conducting workshops, FET also began including a "circular economy" question set in the supplier ESG risk assessment questionnaire from 2022. This helps FET understand the current management status of suppliers and uncover potential cooperation opportunities.

4. FET promotes the CARED – Circular Economic project and started planning the "Circular Economy Platform" in the third quarter of 2023. The platform was designed using existing modular web functions and went online after ten meetings of requirement and technical discussions. Approximately 50 person-days of manpower and a cost of about 800,000 TWD were invested. The purpose of this platform is to effectively reuse resources and reduce carbon emissions and pollution in the supply chain. It aims to match FET with suppliers so that assets or old equipment, instead of being sold or scrapped, can be reused and revitalized, achieving the ESG sustainability goals of reducing carbon emissions and pollution. The initial plan of the platform focuses on old IT equipment, used batteries, or facility equipment (such as generators, chiller units, SMRs), with future plans to include more items to further implement the circular economy. Through this platform, we are exploring how to gradually move away from the linear model of "procure, manufacture, discard," confident that the circular economy can reduce costs and greenhouse gas emissions for companies. As a sustainable leader, FET, with hundreds of billions in annual procurement and thousands of supply chain partners, has the best opportunity to build a resilient circular economy supply chain, giving retired FET equipment a second life. We look forward to this platform inspiring upstream and downstream value chain partners to adopt innovative circular economy thinking, making FET's supply chain a model of environmental sustainability and shared development.

5. To enhance the continuous circular economy reuse rate of retired batteries, FET pioneered the "Smart Swappable Battery Uninterruptible Power System," using retired power batteries as the power source for traffic signals. In collaboration with major domestic smart scooter battery operators Gogoro Network and Ionex, the goal is to promote and install this product service at 8,000 key intersections in major cities across Taiwan by 2028. It is estimated that about 100,000 retired power batteries can be reused annually through this circular economy initiative. The system automatically records the serial numbers of each battery, tracking their health status, and retiring them only when they are no longer suitable, thus completing the product life cycle of retired batteries. This design has not only won the "2022 Smart Taipei Innovation Award" and the "Global Views Magazine ESG Corporate Sustainability Award for Low-Carbon Operation Model," but it is also the first successful application of retired batteries in an uninterruptible power system in Taiwan.

 

4. Waste Flow and Integrated Management

FET manages general waste by incinerating 81% (203.68 tons) for energy recovery and recycling 19% (47.50 tons), achieving a 100% waste diversion rate from landfill. For hazardous and non-hazardous industrial waste, based on the national industrial waste output reported in the Environmental Protection Administration's annual report, we reuse 29.85% (365.54 tons), process 51.30% (628.21 tons) for treatment, and landfill 18.85% (230.84 tons), achieving a waste diversion rate of 81.15%. These figures have been verified by the independent third-party accountant firm Qingshan Sustainable United Accounting Firm.


In addition to reducing waste internally, FET has also implemented an integrated recycling program. We actively communicate and cooperate with suppliers handling general and hazardous waste, such as paper, metal, batteries, and cables, to understand their disposal processes and ensure zero waste is sent to landfill across the entire value chain.

Water Resource Management

1. Water Usage Analysis and Monitoring

To further enhance water use efficiency, FET has implemented a comprehensive water usage assessment. This assessment includes continuous monitoring of water quality and quantity at major operational sites, with monthly evaluations of water usage changes based on statistical data. The assessment reveals that most of our water usage is for air conditioning (accounting for 79.86% of total water use), followed by domestic water use (accounting for 20.14% of total water use). Therefore, these two areas are our primary focus for water conservation efforts.

We have designated one of our sites as a pilot demonstration area to implement high-efficiency water utilization programs. The effectiveness of these programs is evaluated through regular data collection and performance indicators monitoring, with improvements made by integrating the ISO 46001 water resource management system to ensure continuous enhancement of water efficiency across all sites.

2. Water Conservation Goals, Actions, and Training

Our company is advancing water conservation and improving water resource efficiency through the following measures, with a target of reducing annual water consumption by 1% compared to the previous year :

  • Water Resource Risk Assessment and Management: We have conducted a value chain assessment to identify areas with high dependence on water resources or vulnerable to water quality and quantity fluctuations, and use appropriate tools for water resource risk analysis.
  • Water Resource Recycling and Conservation: By regularly updating equipment to improve water usage efficiency, reduce system drainage losses, and increase recycled water volume. For example, installing a condensate water recovery system in air conditioning systems allows for the reuse of significant amounts of cooling water.
  • Smart Water Resource Management System: Leveraging our telecommunications industry's advantages with 4G, 5G, blockchain technology, Internet of Things (IoT) platforms, and cloud computing analysis tools, we are beginning to evaluate and develop a smart water resource management system to enhance water efficiency and address water-related issues.
  • Water-Saving Measures: Utilizing water-saving labeled appliances, setting up rainwater harvesting systems in appropriate locations to reduce water use, and using recovered cooling water for toilet flushing or plant irrigation to achieve optimal water recycling efficiency and sustainability.
  • Employee Education and Training: Conducting company-wide training on environmental sustainability topics every fourth quarter, covering subjects such as climate change, energy conservation, water saving, waste reduction, and biodiversity.
3. Water Resource Management and Water Recycling

In addition to water conservation measures, FarEasTone is also dedicated to improving wastewater quality. We have implemented various projects at designated sites, including "reducing scaling inhibitors in cooling water while retaining chlorine tablets for disinfection and algae control," "using wastewater for irrigation," and daily initiatives such as the "cooling tower water-saving program" and "enhancing Water Use Efficiency (WUE) indicators."

Our main source of wastewater is air conditioning wastewater. To improve wastewater quality, we have taken the following measures:

  • Phased Adjustment of Air Conditioning Water Treatment: Gradually reducing the proportion of chemical additives used in air conditioning water treatment. Annual reductions in chemical treatments help decrease the volume of cooling water discharge, achieving wastewater reduction and quality improvement. Chlorine tablets, primarily containing hypochlorous acid, provide effective disinfection and reduce the formation of less effective hypochlorite due to sunlight exposure.
  • Reusing Air Conditioning Wastewater: Reusing wastewater from air conditioning systems for toilet flushing and plant irrigation in specific locations.
  • Regular Monitoring: Conducting regular quality tests on cooling tower water to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
  • Rainwater Harvesting Systems: Installing rainwater harvesting systems in new buildings for use in toilet flushing and plant irrigation.