5G Plastic Free Corporate Volunteer Sustainable Actions

Chunghwa Telecom launched the "5G Plastic Free Day" initiative in 2021 as its critical step towards “environmentally plastic-free.” In 2023, we continued to uphold the spirit of "5G Plastic Free for Carefree." Aside from aiming for "Mobile Challenges & Technological Revitalization", themed with “circular economy & sharing economy,” a series of activities, online and offline, were designed and executed.

"5G Plastic Free Day" encompasses sustainable courtesy umbrellas as well as collaborations with the United Daily News Group and CTBC Bank. Through online exhibitions, volunteer promotions, and other practical actions, we strive to create an environment where enterprises, employees, and customers can engage in ESG dialogues. We are convinced that these actions will not only raise environmental awareness but also bring about a win-win-win synergy, effectively balancing and enhancing the interests of the environment, society, and businesses.

5I-SDG Initiative: the UN SDGs aligned

2023 5G Plastic Free Day: Features and Innovations

Items	Features and Innovations
Eco-Volunteer Training	The corporate volunteer training activities organized at the Taromak Tribe, Taitung allowed volunteers to acquire the sustainable spirit of resources utilization and environment conservation through eco-tours and hands-on experience courses. The corporate volunteers participated actively, with the surveyed satisfaction rate exceeding 85.5%.
ESG Leading Enterprise Partnership	Chunghwa Telecom and CTBC Bank took the lead, turning the plastic bottles collected by employees from daily recycling or beach cleanups into courtesy umbrellas. The cross-company borrowing and sharing model of “Courtesy Umbrellas of Recycled Bottles” for common good was introduced, free of charge, with 6,000 umbrellas available at nearly 600 CHT stores and bank branches across Taiwan. 17 different organizations, including government, businesses, social enterprises, and NPOs, were invited to live up to the SDG #17 Partnerships for the Goals to jointly achieve goal of net-zero emissions.
Plastic Bottle Recycling Experience	A plastic bottle recycling experience was organized at the Xinyi Campus of Chunghwa Telecom, with “Returtle” tour vans arranged to allow employees to experience the plastic bottle recycling process firsthand. With a total of 14 kilograms of plastic bottle fragments collected, it strengthened employees’ environmental knowledge and involvement.
Involvement of Partners on the Value Chain	Chunghwa Telecom invited subsidiaries and supplier partners to jointly throw Plastic Free Festival at the East Gate Square in Taitung. At the site of Paperwindmill Theatre’s performance, plastic-free booths were set up to offer interactive education and games to present the idea of plastic-free in depth via an easy-to-understand approach.
Bag It On	“Bag It On” initiative was launched to collect used phone cases in exchange of eco bags. With a total of 10,008 phone cases collected and made into 355 kg of fuel rods, the initiative put the idea of recycling into action.

“Bag It On” initiative was launched to collect used phone cases in exchange of eco bags.

Act	Title	Achievements
Chapter I	5G Plastic Free Volunteer Training	The corporate volunteer training activity this year took employees to the Rukai community in Taitung County—Taromak Tribe. Led by tribal leaders, employees were introduced through the guided tours to the tribe as well as their history, geography, and culture to appreciate the indigenous spirit of resource utilization, environmental conservation, and coexistence with nature. They also experienced the wreath making and archery, gaining a deeper understanding of the interaction and interdependence of the indigenous people with flora and fauna as well as an insight into sharing economy. Execution results: Taromak Tribe, Taitung County: participated by 61 corporate volunteers
Chapter II	Courtesy Umbrellas of Recycled Bottles	Chunghwa Telecom and CTBC Bank were the first to join the collaborative platform built by Vision Project, leading their employees to exercise the UN’s Act Now campaign for immediate individual carbon reducing efforts, embodying cross-sectoral collaboration to promote the new model of circularity×sharing. When using the umbrellas, one will find that each Courtesy Umbrella of Recycled Bottles is made of 15-20 plastic bottles. A total of 6,000 courtesy umbrellas are made available at nearly 600 CHT stores and CTBC Bank branches for people to use, free of charge. Execution results: 6,000 Courtesy Umbrellas of Recycled Bottles Available at over 600 stores/branches across Taiwan 100⁺ items for ACT NOW quiz 1 promotional video 65 social media posts 312,285 Facebook Page views 331,000 video views 10,201,234 ad impressions for online exhibition
Chapter III	Plastic Free Festival with Paperwindmill Theatre	With Paperwindmill Theatre putting up performance for the third year of the Plastic-Free Family Day of Chunghwa Telecom, with the environmental musical Chicken Town Story as the play to promote the plastic free idea of circular recycling for a sharing future through an easy-to-understand, lively, and fun content. Execution results: Taitung: Nearly 3,000 audience for the show
Chapter IV	Bag It On	Everyone owns a mobile phone nowadays, and each one even has more than one phone case. According to the phone case sales survey, there are 8 million phone cases made of varied materials in Taiwan each year. Chunghwa Telecom started with its own 20,000 employees, collecting used phone cases to prevent them from becoming e-waste. The “Bag It On” campaign, running for two months, has seen participation from 35 organizations and collected a total of 10,008 used phone cases. These cases were sent to the recycling plant of Da Fon Environmental Technology Co., Ltd., where they undergo sorting, shredding, and demolding processes. Ultimately, they were transformed into 355 kilograms of fuel rods. The fuel rod production brings forth three benefits: reducing dioxin emissions, reducing carbon footprints, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Execution results: Number of participants: 20,000 Achievement: 10,008 used phone cases collected across the country and made into 355 kg of effective fuel rods of SRF

Initiative Results of the Year

CommonWealth Sustainability CWS

In response to the “CommonWealth Sustainability CWS Temperature Rising Index for Pathways” campaign, after calculation using the “Temperature Rising Index for Pathways” (TRIPs), it has been confirmed that our efforts align with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to 1.5°C by the end of this century. Therefore, we have been awarded the Compliant with the 1.5°C Temperature Control Target certification as recognition.

5G Marine Vacuum Cleaner – Remove Marine Debris

CHT leveraged the emerging 5G technology and worked with the unmanned vessel, Marine Vacuum Cleaner, developed by Azure Alliance. With the outstanding 5G communication capability in speed and low latency, we control remotely and clean efficiently the marine debris.

We promoted plastic reduction from the source via the angle of corporate culture. By accelerating marine debris cleanup with unmanned vehicles, linking up virtuous cycles via technology, listening carefully and responding to social needs, an effective “I Protecting” model was established. In 2023, the marine vacuum cleaner, powered by the Company and partner enterprises, collected 1,136.8 kg of marine debris in total, certified by Ocean Conservancy.