Therese Seiringer – Vodafone Germany

For two years Therese Seiringer has been Head of the Sustainability department of Vodafone Germany including Environmental, Social, and Governance topics. Vodafone is one of the world‘s largest mobile phone providers and network operators. In this Brand Growth interview, Seiringer will tell us all about how “connectivity” and sustainability are combined at Vodafone.

THREE PILLARS OF SUSTAINABILITY

Vodafone has set itself the goal of reducing its own CO2 emissions to zero by the year 2025. Thanks to more efficient management of energy and the conclusion of green electricity contracts, the company is already at 92%, which naturally pleases Therese Seiringer.

A milestone that Vodafone has set for the year 2040 is no less ambitious. By then, the emissions along Vodafone’s upstream and downstream value chain should be completely reduced to zero as well. Here they work together with market partners, e.g. in the pilot project DHL GoGreen regarding climate-neutral transport of goods.

“Digital Society, Planet and Inclusion for All – define our purpose.”

But Vodafone’s sustainability strategy goes beyond pure ecological goals. As Seiringer explains, this is based on three pillars: Digital Society – Planet – Inclusion for All. Here, Vodafone is concerned with creating a digital world in people’s everyday lives through the core product “connectivity”, in which as many as possible have access to information. Because “knowledge always means inclusion and can make a serious contribution to it”.

SUSTAINABILITY AS AN OPPORTUNITY

According to Seiringer, we are still “at the beginning of a long journey when it comes to sustainability because many do not yet know what is still possible in terms of sustainability and what opportunities it holds”. Ultimately, her goal is to present a triple-win situation: Lower costs through higher product efficiency, fewer CO2 emissions, and less effort and bureaucracy in the implementation of measures, for example, recycling. In this way, the idea of ​​a circular economy can become a matter of course in the future of connectivity and at the same time become a driver of competition.

“You can’t deny consumers their decision to buy a new smartphone, but at least the old phone should be recycled.“

Until then, a lot of new awareness must be created. In Germany alone, 320 million old mobile phones are lying dormant in the drawers of private households. Part of this treasure could be raised via trade-in offers. “One shouldn’t deny consumers their decision to buy a new smartphone, but at least the old cell phone should be recycled,” says Seiringer. This is exactly where Vodafone comes in with the “One for One” promise. Together with its partner Closing the Loop, Vodafone collects one old phone from countries without secure recycling systems for every new smartphone purchased. This ensures professional and environmentally friendly raw material recovery. With One for One, Vodafone wants to create a new understanding of the recycling of old mobile phones and thus take an important step towards the circular economy.

As a sign of their joint determination, major players such as Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom, and Telefonica have created the “Konsortium Eco Rating” to provide consumers with more sustainability information when buying a smartphone. Eco Rating assesses the environmental impact of the entire life cycle of a mobile phone, from production, through transport and use, to disposal of the device. It thus supports private customers in their purchasing decisions and motivates the mobile communications industry to create more transparency and therefore minimize the overall ecological footprint.

ALREADY MANY POSITIVE EXAMPLES

Vodafone is also working on joint solutions with major customers in the business area in order to be able to operate more sustainably. For example, an automotive supplier was able to identify energy guzzlers with an IoT solution for the manufacturer’s production line and ultimately reduce electricity costs by 10%. And at a parking provider, parking times and thus energy costs and air pollution were noticeably reduced thanks to a smart parking solution.

A heart project for Seiringer is also “Giga Bee Protect”, which combines digitality and the protection of our planet in a beautiful way. Digital measuring devices attached to the beehives can be used to analyze the pollen dust of the bees and gain valuable insights into the necessary plant diversity in the vicinity of the beehives. “In this way, the death of bees can at least be slowed down, if not stopped in part.”

„With courage, a lot of positive things can happen.“

An example from a completely different industry made a lasting impression and inspired Seiringer: It is the success story of the Rügenwalder Mühle, recognizing the trend towards a low-meat diet at an early stage and then resolutely moving forward, so that in just a few years significant growth was recorded in the vegetarian segment – and that as a meat company.

Accordingly, for Seiringer, digitality, and sustainable action are not a contradiction in terms, and she applauds: “With courage, a lot of positive things can happen.”