As we operate in the home appliances and consumer electronics market, we can and must play a leading role in tackling pressing environmental issues such as e-waste and climate change. More than 1,000 of our stores, warehouses and distribution centers consume energy, accumulate and recycle waste, and use other resources. Our goal is to improve the environmental performance of our own operations and the supply chain. As such, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and supporting the principles of a circular economy are key factors that shape our impact on the environment.
LONG-TERM GOALS
Our goals by 2030:
Our goals by 2050:
2020 results
LONG-TERM GOALS
Our goals by 2025:
2020 results
Climate change is the most urgent problem facing our planet today. It impacts our customers, employees, the employees of our partners and also the natural resources used to make products. We can help tackle climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the energy efficiency of our operations and our entire supply chain.
Fully aware of the complexity of this task, we analyzed our partners’ goals as well as the time horizon of the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Agenda. Our climate goals are more long-term than our other sustainable development goals because this is the time frame in which we can achieve tangible joint results in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In an effort to correctly and systematically account for direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, we have developed an emissions accounting model that will enable us to calculate emissions from our operations and partners’ activities in the supply chain on an annual basis. When developing the greenhouse gas emissions model, we took into account the recommendations of the generally recognized standards (GHG Protocol), as well as the best practices of peer companies that are leaders in the CDP rating. Emissions calculations take into account both international and Russian requirements, which is why the model will include the approaches of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the Methodological Guidelines of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources (Order No. 300 dated June 30, 2015 and Order No. 330 dated June 29, 2017).
In our work to combat climate change, we have established three priorities:
We strive to use modern lighting systems and reduce our impact on electrical networks. Since 2015, we have only installed LED lighting when building new M.Video and Eldorado stores, and we have begun the process of modernizing lighting at older stores, particularly those over seven years old. About 50 projects are being implemented annually to modernize lighting in sales areas, warehouses and offices.
Starting in 2017, we launched a project to introduce remote power supply control. Since the project began, more than 200 of the Group’s stores have been equipped with such systems, which has significantly reduced electricity consumption and minimized fire risks.
We understand our responsibility for products sold even after consumers stop using them. As such, we have set the goal of promoting a circular economy in which there is no waste, but there are resources for new production. Our goal is to reduce the amount of hazardous waste in landfills by creating a convenient service to accept equipment and raise awareness of the impact that e-waste has on the environment.
In 2020, our aims for the "Planet" section were to scale up programs to dispose of equipment and batteries properly, reduce the amount of waste, raise awareness of consumption among the public in accordance with SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production , and reduce electricity consumption in accordance with SDG 13 Climate Action .
According to the World Economic Forum, the global consumer electronics market produces around 2–50 million tons of waste worldwide. Recycling e-waste is particularly important because, even though it accounts for about 2% of the total volume of solid waste, it makes up almost 70% of hazardous waste that ends up in landfills worldwide. However, if conditions for safe recycling are observed, 50%–80% of the materials contained in equipment can be returned to the economy. E-waste contains precious metals (such as gold, copper and nickel) and strategic rare materials (indium and palladium). The problem is the incredible complexity of objects recycled, since a product can consist of more than a thousand elements.
In 2019, we launched "Proper Disposal", the first project in Russia that aims to recycle home appliances and electronics with full control at all stages. Our main objective was to establish a transparent and reliable process to dispose of home appliances and electronics for all parties involved: consumers, equipment manufacturers and importers, and recyclers themselves. When developing the project, we were guided by two key criteria: the proper processing of all product elements and the traceability of the life cycle.
To solve the problem, an independent association was created and began the process of collecting old equipment through stores and in the form of a special service. The process is monitored through a three-way IT system involving the retailer, the association and recycling companies. M.Video– Eldorado assumed all the costs of collecting equipment related to paperwork, organizing storage at each store and training personnel. The association pays for the transportation of equipment to recycling enterprises and all recycling processes.
Through well-coordinated work with our partners, we have demonstrated the importance of proper waste management and how simple and easy it is to dispose of equipment and batteries. In addition, we have created a new option for handling e-waste: bring it to a store, place an order for collection services, and stop storing it at home or throwing it away.
In 2020, we continued to scale up the recycling project and, together with our partners, achieved impressive results:
In September 2020, we began properly disposing of obsolete equipment from the head office and stores. In November, we launched a service in the Eldorado online store to collect equipment for recycling as well as a similar service for legal entities. We also launched a training course on the "Proper Disposal" project for employees who work at M.Video and Eldorado stores.
We use our reach and influence to encourage the entire industry to support recycling technologies, use recycled materials and involve consumers in the process. These initiatives not only contribute to environmental protection but also are commercially viable because the cost of extracting and processing new materials is higher than that of recycling.
We are proud of our achievements in the "Proper Disposal" project and are setting even more ambitious goals for 2021. In particular, we plan to increase the volume of e-waste collected to 1,500 tons by involving an additional 200 M.Video and Eldorado stores and 10 new regions of Russia in the recycling program.
In late 2018, M.Video–Eldorado launched a battery recycling program. In 2020, almost all M.Video and Eldorado stores were equipped with containers to collect batteries, and the scale of the project tripled, as visitors handed in some 20 tons of used batteries for recycling (compared with around 7 tons from October 2018 to the end of 2019). In 2021, we plan to increase the volume of batteries collected to 28 tons.
We understand that a move towards sustainable development must be twosided, with both the consumer and the retailer working together to ensure an eco-friendly way of life. To support this movement, the Group works actively with the public to provide information and educate people about such issues as conscious consumption, treating the environment responsibly and promoting proper disposal services for home appliances and batteries. We firmly believe that this is a key ingredient for success in terms of minimizing hazardous waste in landfills and developing a circular economy in Russia.
For example, M.Video–Eldorado websites have a special section with educational information on proper disposal. We also undertook several new educational initiatives in 2020: we became a member of the MEGA School of Ecology, held a home-based eco-quest for children about how to treat home appliances and electronics responsibly, and organized an exclusive online tour of a recycling plant.
In March 2021, we plan to hold a national interactive environmental tutorial called "The Adventures of Electronics," which we worked on with our partners throughout 2020. The tutorial will teach schoolchildren how to take care of gadgets and home appliances, learn about all the resources that are needed to create familiar products, and understand how to properly take care of devices so that they last as long as possible. It will also teach schoolchildren how to responsibly handle equipment that can no longer be used: they will understand how dangerous it is for electrical appliances to end up in landfills and why the alternative of recycling gadgets is much better for people and the environment. The teaching materials will include a procedural guide and a video with instructions on how to prepare for and conduct the tutorial, an animated presentation, game materials and pocket-sized notepads in which students can write down their most important thoughts about the tutorial. We hope that our lesson will fit well with the curriculum of a wide range of humanitarian and natural science subjects in accordance with the recommendations for the environmental component of the school curriculum.
In October 2020, we gave a lecture on proper disposal titled "Don’t Dump on Nature" at the School of Ecology. The lecture resulted in a cordial conversation about how to treat home appliances and electronics responsibly, as well as M.Video’s approach to recycling them. Along with guests, adults and children, we discussed what would happen if an old microwave were thrown into an ordinary dumpster and whether responsible recyclers exist. We also saw what happens to old equipment after it is recycled. We showed how our project can reduce the negative impact on the environment and how easy it is to be responsible: all you have to do is bring your old equipment or batteries to M.Video stores at any time you like.
In December 2020, M.Video’s "Proper Disposal" project won a prestigious People Investor award in the Environmental Efficiency category. The Association of Managers has been holding the People Investor project since 2008. The project’s mission is to identify and share the best experience and practices of socially responsible business
From November 23 to December 6, 2020, we held an event to promote conscious consumption at Mega shopping centers where M.Video and Eldorado stores are located. On Black Friday, we educated customers about ways to live an eco-friendly lifestyle, how to make informed product choices and how to make such products last longer. Exhibits at shopping centers introduced visitors to the Group’s "Proper Disposal" project. At our stores, we have also attached special tags to products with exceptional environmental performance to show our customers how they can reduce their environmental footprint and resource consumption.
In December 2020, we held a unique online tour at the Ecotechprom plant, which recycles old equipment from Moscow, the Moscow region and other nearby areas. Plant workers showed the online audience how equipment is disassembled, how individual materials are obtained that can be returned to the production cycle, how recycled materials are used and why this is important. We emphasized how equipment recycling can work in Russia with a visual demonstration and a detailed explanation about all the stages of recycling. We firmly believe that such events to enhance the transparency of this process are an important step toward minimizing hazardous waste in landfills and developing a circular economy
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We highlight ways to recycle equipment with the help of bloggers and opinion leaders and also through popular channels. In October 2020, Eldorado reported on the conditions of the "Green Recycling" campaign together with Vitaly Nalivkin (a popular YouTuber playing a fictional regional apparatchik cracking down on crime and city’s long-standing problems), who not only caught a group of robbers (unscrupulous recyclers) but also returned stolen home appliances to the city’s residents and reminded them that they can bring their old equipment to Eldorado stores and help save the environment.
People generally learn about the principles of treating the environment responsibly from an early age. We have developed an ecological quest called "Thirtieth Kingdom: An Environmentally Unfriendly Stat" to convey to children in the format of a game the idea of a circular economy and how each of them is personally responsible for the future of our planet. The game helps children and their parents to start noticing all the technology around them, learn how it affects the environment and find out where they can bring old equipment to help the planet. In 2021, we will continue holding major educational initiatives for our communities and employees. One such initiative will be a special eco-lesson in Russian schools.
M.Video was one of the first companies in the Russian market to abandon the sale of plastic bags at stores. It replaced them with FSC-certified paper bags produced in the most eco-friendly way possible.
When purchasing a bag with the FSC label on it, the Group’s customers promote sustainable forest management and the protection of forest flora and fauna. Part of the proceeds from the sale of these paper bags has been used to restore the historical landscapes of deciduous forests at Ugra National Park as part of the "Restoring Forests—Returning Bison" project, which is being organized jointly with the Beautiful Children in a Beautiful World charitable foundation. The next step for the Group is the sale of reusable bags that can replace disposable bags.
Another way for the Group to support the circular economy is to develop a network of after-sales service and repair centers. As of the end of 2020, our customers could bring in their equipment for repairs to 191 service centers throughout Russia. Last year, we repaired a total of 93,700 units of equipment, including around 69,400 units received from customers and 24,200 units owned by the Group.
We see two priority areas for waste management: reducing the volume of recyclable materials that our stores and warehouses generate, as well as establishing a single process for collecting and accumulating recyclable materials. In 2020, we disposed of more than 935,000 tons of waste. Increasing the share of recyclable materials generated at our stores and warehouses will remain one of our top priorities in 2021.
| INDICATOR | 2019 | 2020 |
| Total volume of equipment repaired based on customer complaints, units | 95,361 | 93,691 |
| Volume of customer equipment repaired based on warranty certificates, units | 68,059 | 69,444 |
| Volume of customer equipment repaired for which diagnostics were carried out, units | 54,167 | 47,462 |
| Volume of customer equipment repaired without warranty certificates, units | 8,224 | 14,494 |
| Volume of repaired equipment owned by the Group, units | 5,668 | 7,488 |
| Number of service centers | 27,302 | 24,247 |
| Total volume of equipment repaired based on customer complaints, units | 200 | 191 |
