Environmental footprint

Reducing our environmental footprint is a constant objective for our organization

At NBG, we take our environmental impact seriously and we are committed to taking initiatives and actions that will help reduce the environmental footprint of our business operations.

NBG’s Energy saving actions:

Within the three-year period 2018-21, we achieved energy savings of 25%, having implemented important initiatives, such as:  

• Energy upgrade of the IT and Operations building complex in Gerakas – which received LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification at GOLD level – as well as 2 other Administration buildings, and installation of a platform for measuring and monitoring energy consumption in 49 buildings of the Bank.  
• Upgrading of the air conditioning systems of the Bank's buildings with equipment of energy class A+ and use of ecological refrigerants, removal of the majority of boilers and their replacement with heat pumps of high energy class.
• Replacement of interior and exterior light fixtures with new LED ones, lighting control with motion detectors, installation of photocells and timers in selected buildings.

Having achieved all of the above and remaining true to the common drive to address the energy crisis, we are going ahead with a new package of measures aimed at further reducing energy consumption in 2025 by more than 15% compared to 2021. 

The said new measures include:

• Gradual energy upgrade of 12 emblematic buildings of the Bank, further LEED certifications, and expansion of the program for the installation of metering devices for central monitoring of energy consumption in buildings of the Bank and its subsidiaries.
• Immediate modification of air conditioning operating hours in the Administration buildings and branches, with thermostats set to 19oC in the winter and 26oC in the summer time, and deactivation of air conditioning when the outside temperature allows it.
• Direct modification of lighting in buildings at night, with deactivation of the outdoor lighting after 22:00 at the Administration buildings and branches, and automatic deactivation of indoor lighting after the departure of the employees. Of course, lighting is maintained where required for security reasons, e.g. at the Bank’s ATM sites.

In addition, our successful digital transformation model has contributed, and should continue to contribute, to energy savings in the future through the transition to cloud infrastructure, the replacement of desktop computers by laptops, and the migration of the majority of transactions to digital channels. 

Regarding NBG's energy mix, it is noted that as of 2021, 97.5% of the electricity consumed by the bank derives from certified renewable sources.  We have already installed photovoltaic systems in selected bank buildings, as well as in buildings of our subsidiary PAEGAE, and we plan to further increase the installed capacity of renewable energy sources in the Group's building fleet. 

Last, recognizing that when everyone joins forces we achieve much more, at NBG we have planned coordinated actions aimed at informing, educating and encouraging our people to contribute themselves to efforts to save energy, not only in their work, but also in their private lives, through simple and practical advice. 

As NBG’s CEO stated recently: 

Recycling programs - paper and solid waste management

As part of the implementation of our Environmental Management System, for more than ten years we have been implementing recycling programs in cooperation with licensed bodies and with the active participation of our employees and customers. 

The programs include:

• Lamp recycling
  Over 15  tonnes of lamps have been recycled in the last decade.
  (762 kg of lamps recycled in 2020).

• Recycling of portable (small) batteries
  Over the last decade, more than 48 tonnes of (small) batteries have been recycled (2,457 kg of batteries recycled in 2020).

• Recycling of Electrical and Electronic Equipment
  More than 1,600 tonnes of EEE have been recycled in the last decade.
  (212 tonnes of EEE recycled in 2020).

• Paper recycling
  More than 3,421 tonnes of paper have been recycled over the last decade.
  (51 tonnes of paper recycled in 2020).

In addition, we have taken the following actions:

Recycling/reuse of ink cartridges

Through our Managed Print Services (MPS) system, we have centralized printing operations across the entire network of branches and administration buildings in order to reduce printing/operational costs. The system also includes environmentally friendly management (recycling/reuse) of ink cartridges.

In the last decade, 45,000 toner items were recycled, and 10,106 appliances and furniture were donated for reuse, contributing to the circular economy (3,571 tonnes of toner recycled and 364 appliances and furniture donated in 2020).

Recycling program (paper, aluminum, plastic

We launched a program for recycling materials we use in our daily lives in 2021.
To this end we have installed recycling bins in 10 buildings where many of the Bank's Units are housed, with individual spaces for the following three materials:

• Paper
• Aluminum
• Plastic

The contents of the bins are collected by a specially certified company, which undertakes recycling separately for each material.