Operational ecology – Conserving resources and environment

At Munich Re, we aim to consume as few natural resources as possible and use eco-friendly materials like recycled paper to minimise our impact on the environment.

Our Group companies aim to manage resources efficiently and sparingly. Munich Re (reinsurance) and ERGO give priority to reducing paper, water and energy consumption and decreasing emissions resulting from business travel and the disposal of waste.

The following table provides information on our current consumption of resources.

*GJ: Gigajoules

Direct and indirect energy consumption per employee

Direct energy consumption (Scope 1) per employee rose significantly in the reinsurance group between 2009 and 2010. This increase is attributable to the inclusion of more data, i.e. more data are being recorded.

Indirect energy consumption (Scope 2), on the other hand, has significantly decreased. One reason for this shift from direct to indirect energy consumption is the more extensive recording of data in Munich Re (Group). Other factors influencing these figures include measures taken to increase the efficiency of energy usage and the effects of weather.

Paper consumption per employee

Paper consumption decreased significantly. Savings were achieved by digitising documents and forms in e-mail attachments instead of sending them on paper and by printing both sides of paper.

Proportion of FSC recycling paper used to overall paper consumption:
2010: 65%
2009: 53%
2008: 55%

Water consumption per employee

In 2010, per-employee water consumption was reduced to 17.65 m³.

Waste per employee

In 2010, the amount of waste produced per staff member decreased slightly to 0.31 tonnes.

Business trips per employee

Business travel to call on clients is indispensable for us as insurers. Following a slight decline in 2009, the level of business travel rose somewhat again in 2010. The per-employee average rose due to a slight increase in the absolute total together with a slight decline in the number of staff.