Many office supplies are plastic and the vast majority end up in landfill or oceans. we partnered with TerraCycle to collect our used and broken plastic stationery in every office location in mainland China, breaking down components into plastic pellets, then recycling this back into new products.

We are also supporting a plastic reduction campaign called the 10 Tonnes Challenge organised by V Cycle, a Hong Kong based social enterprise, to help collect plastic bottles for proper recycling. Benefits include upcycling the collected plastic bottles, educating the public about plastic reduction and recycling, and providing training and job opportunities for waste pickers and people with special needs.

Laptop reuse and recycle

Nearly all PwC’s partners and staff require a laptop to do their daily work. When the laptops reach the end of their first life, we refurbish them and donate them to support good causes.  we have been partnering with Netspring to help fund the development of two Green IT classrooms for disadvantaged rural schools in Nanchong, Sichuan province.

For our remaining laptops, we resell them on the second-hand market, enabling us to extend their usable life. Where donation and reselling are not possible, we work with recognised service providers to help us recycle our laptops responsibly.

Coffee grounds are a major source of organic waste in our offices. Every year, our Hong Kong offices generate around 2,000 to 3,000 kg of coffee grounds. PwC has been participating in the ‘Zero Grounds Coffee Campaign’ (ZGCC) organised by Eco-Greenergy – a social enterprise in Hong Kong, to recycle our coffee grounds. Coffee grounds collected from our offices are upcycled into planting pots, and part of the profit will support research and recycling technology; or fermented into compost and donated to various local organic farms.

Businesses, governments and investors are now starting to recognise the dangers of a warming climate. But there is another, interrelated ecological crisis looming that is every bit as important. Loss of nature and biodiversity is also threatening the stability of our world. The collapse of nature and climate change will impact every business, the economy and humanity. What we do in the next decade will be critical to all life on Earth.

To demonstrate our purpose in action, PwC supported WWF to screen a new film inspired by the Our Planet Netflix series – Our Planet: Our Business during Green Week 2019. We hosted a global webcast on World Environment Day, and a number of exclusive preview screenings in Beijing, Hong Kong and Shanghai to engage our internal and external stakeholders. This has successfully provided a platform for clients, other corporates, social enterprises, charities and our people to explore together how business can solve the world’s most important environmental problems.

In addition to the screening events, a series of other internal communications and activities were organised to further engage our staff, including volunteering activities with local NGOs and charities, focused on conserving and restoring our natural environment, and encouraging our people to make a personal pledge to support a more sustainable lifestyle.