Capture PMI's Transformation Journey towards Sustainability

Sustainability sits at the core of our transformation, we see it as a fundamental opportunity for innovation, growth, and purpose-led, impact-driven, long term value creation. We work hard to integrate sustainability into every aspect of our business and activities. In this post, you will find some of the recent initiatives towards sustainability in Philip Morris International (PMI) and PMI Istanbul HQ Office.

This is the green view of our balcony in Istanbul HQ Office. This balcony is the place where I have my coffee breaks, catch up with my colleagues and even brainstorm with my project team. This time I am alone in this green balcony and I have things to read: PMI’s sustainability achievements and objectives. Through sustainability reporting, companies communicate their performance and impacts on a wide range of sustainability topics, spanning environmental, social and governance parameters. PMI is very transparent in terms of sustainability reporting and acts responsibly towards a sustainable world.

 

In Philip Morris Turkey offices, employees can easily find so many recycling bins. Recycling is crucial to lessen the carbon footprint and contribute toward a healthy environment and sustainability. We have an eco-friendly waste management system that protects the environment and secures the community’s wellbeing. Materials such as plastics, paper, glass, and aluminum can be recycled and reused over and over again.

Animal welfare is our passion. We believe that all animals, from the domestic to the exotic, deserve the right to be protected and to live happy and healthy lives. Even our offices are places where animals live in a safe habitat and we live in harmony together. 

All the world is a stage for sustainability. In this photo, you see the “Stage”. It is a meeting room in our green garden of Istanbul HQ Office. It is just like an office room in the middle of a forest. The stage is one of the continuous improvements towards reducing the environmental impacts of the office work. It facilitates activities that promote sustainable lifestyles. The atmosphere in Stage inspires employees to get involved and adopt environmentally-friendly habits. Come in, Stage is yours, just act towards sustainability!

 

Sustainable development relates to all humans and involves all aspects of our lives; learning must therefore be part of a lifelong process. In PMI, we have lifelong learning opportunities that proactively respond to our expressed needs and objectives, such as learning, development or capacity building programmes for soft and hard skills. We have tools like Fuse, Udemy and Rosetta Stone. This picture shows a scene from my live tutoring session on English. I have a dream to work in a foreign country and I invest to excel my communication skills. Having such an opportunity in PMI not only contributes to my development but also opens the way for a sustainable future for lifelong and self-motivated learning.

 

Creating a sustainable office environment strengthens our core smoke-free vision with an ever-developing approach to sustainability. Our office in Istanbul is a living, breathing ecosystem set within an urban environment. Our workplace has plenty of space with trees and plants. They make our environment healthier and more productive. Placing plants around the office helps us to clean the air and promote natural climate control. Our trees in the garden where we get afternoon sun significantly reduce our air conditioning costs. Also, trees help to block cold winter winds, so planting coniferous keep our winter heating costs down. Simply, we implement go-green ideas in a full-green environment.

We have an inclusive and equal working environment with opportunities for everyone. As an employee of PMI, I see my company focuses on eliminating gender disparities in work environment and ensuring equal access to all levels of development for the vulnerable, including persons with disabilities. That is one of the drivers how we achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.

 

In PM Turkey Istanbul office, we are aware that cleaning wastewater of any kind first requires understanding its composition and particle-size distribution. From there, wastewater treatment can identify the right mix of mechanical processes, chemical water treatment and biological solutions. For sure, removing contaminants is not enough. For a truly sustainable approach, there are many ways to future-proof water treatment processes, and we are happy to share our experience in Turkey.

Sport has the power to change the world; it is a fundamental right and a powerful tool to strengthen social ties and promote sustainable development and peace, as well as solidarity and respect for all. In PM Turkiye offices we have gym where we can exercise for a healthy and sustainable life. It is open not only office days but also weekends. So we enjoy everyday as a new game day!

One of the most sustainable things people can do is to increase the physical activity for a more active life. The battle to tackle physical inactivity starts by keeping yourself fit for the action. And we have a great gym for those who want a healthier and ultimately happier planet.

In PMI, we have wide variety of learning opportunities for Sustainability. These learning plans provide a comprehensive knowledge highlighting the wide range of skills and processes that are needed to support the constructive collaboration and action required for addressing complex issues. Udemy Business is one of these tools provided to PMI employees to deep dive into Sustainability issues.

In PM Turkiye offices, we literally walk the talk: our garden is totally green and sustainable because we walk the green talk!

Gardening in a sustainable way is more economical as it involves using recycled materials, reducing the use of natural resources, and requires less maintenance. Creating a sustainable garden is what we have done in Turkey as we realized the importance of having backyards that are not only beautifully planted and well designed, but also work in partnership with green life in the city center and help to mitigate climate change.

We are not alone in the world, we share it with others, just like the turtle on the right side of the photo shares the pool with the turtle in the left side of the pool.

Life continues in a sustainable way – in the pool of our PMI office.

In order to decrease the number of hardcopy ledgers and printouts in the way of working, we benefit from digitalization through our transformation journey. Digitalization enables us to keep data in cloud instead of on paper, so that we decrease our carbon footprint as well.

Inside our office, we protect the nature by acting responsibly so that we save the green forests. Outside our office, we live in our green garden, enjoy our coffee and lunch breaks in a natural environment which feeds our mental well-being.

As we transform for good, we see it as a fundamental opportunity for innovation, growth, and purpose-led, impact-driven, long-term value creation. Accordingly, we work hard to integrate sustainability into every aspect of our business and activities. And we periodically report on sustainability and inform our investors and stakeholders.

As one of the winners of PMI’s World Clean Up Challenge 2022, our company gifted me 2 special gifts; one for individual success and one for team success. My gift was two trees for the planet. Every tree is geolocated and photographed – I can follow its story online, that’s great to follow up its growing.

I was working for PhilSA in 2014, the year that I became a father, and that summer all employees were given one olive tree seedling. One of my friends had not had the opportunity to plant, so he handed over his seedling to me as well. I went home with two seedlings in the service bus and looked after them on the balcony until the end of the week, and at the weekend I planted them in the garden of our summer house in Seferihisar, district of Izmir. The seedlings that I gave the life water to, dreaming of getting olives in the future, hugged the soil and life tightly, loved their place, started to rise, and get stronger.