OPTrust operates in a green office environment

posting date Posted: September 6, 2006
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Environmental Awareness

At OPTrust we recognize the value of promoting a green office environment and the impact it has on our organization and stakeholders. OPTrust is an environmentally responsible organization, committed to improving our office and external “green” operations for our staff, members and pensioners, stakeholders and visitors.

According to Environment Canada, environmentally responsible management is a necessary and integral part of a sustainable future - the green office is here to stay. OPTrust recognizes the need to do its part in maintaining a sustainable future for the environment through a green office.

Green Initiatives

In serving our more than 75,000 members and pensioners, OPTrust has directed considerable efforts to minimize the environmental impacts arising from our day-to-day operations. Over the past few years, OPTrust has introduced several key initiatives to further improve the way we operate environmentally. For example, we provide OPTrust's booklets and forms on the website, minimizing paper consumption. The introduction of Online Services gives members and pensioners access to their personal pension information in a secure web environment.

More specifically, some of our measurable achievements include:

  • production of OPTrust's print publications and stationery on recycled paper
  • more than 21,000 retirees (98%) receive their monthly pension payment by direct deposit, eliminating the requirement to produce paper cheques
  • an increasing number of members and pensioners receive electronic communications from OPTrust (e.g., e-blasts, Annual Pension Statements, tax statements, newsletters, and presentations)
  • traffic on our website has gone up an astounding 642% since 2001, as members and pensioners look to the Internet for pension-related electronic information, rather than print materials
  • we partner with external printing suppliers who have won awards for environmental printing
  • internally, we have implemented a new document management system to aid in promoting a "paperless office" through archival.

Internally, OPTrust endeavors to conserve energy consumption by ensuring office equipment and lights are turned off at the end of each business day. Throughout our office, we have recycle bins to promote the “reduce, reuse, recycle” approach to environmental sustainability.

Looking ahead, we will continue to improve and measure our environmental performance, explore new opportunities to deal with environmental issues and communicate our approach towards further environmental sustainability.