Achieving a more sustainable future is in all of our best interests, and is the responsibility of all. Ever conscious of its potential to have an impact on the local community, Du is delivering on its promise by announcing that 65% of its customers have opted for paperless e-billing, since the system launched in 2009.

Du introduced its e-billing system with the aim to cut back on the amount of paper used, and to reduce carbon emissions - thereby helping to preserve the environment.

e-billing creates a win-win situation for everyone involved: customers get their bills faster and more conveniently, and Du cuts back on paper usage. The biggest winner is, of course, the environment.

"We are proud that 65% of our customers have opted for paperless e-billing, since we implemented the option in 2009, and we're always encouraging more to make the change to help use save even more paper. Last year alone we managed to cut down our consumer printables by 58% to 1.76 million papers from 4.21 million papers in 2011, and we're constantly working to improve this figure by inspiring more of our customers and colleagues to adopt greener habits," said Abdulhadi Alalyak, Vice President, Asset Management and Corporate Administration, Du. 

"Our efforts towards becoming more sustainable are in line with the UAE's long-term national initiative to build a green economy, under the slogan 'A green economy for sustainable development', which we are keen supporters of through various sustainable initiatives within our company."

Du practices several methods of reducing stationary consumption and waste. A reporting mechanism in the company's managed printer services ensures that every page used is counted. In 2012, Du reduced its printer cartridge consumption by 43%, and recycled 322 cartridges.

On top of this, all carrier bags and leaflets used in Du's Shops are made from recycled and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified.

Last year, Du's sustainability efforts led to recycling 185 tonnes of paper, cardboard and plastic.

This covers:

• 90.93 tonnes of paper waste being recycled.

• 43.67 tonnes of cardboard.

• 40.71 tonnes of plastics and scratch cards.