français deutsch english
Infomaniak Network s'engage pour la planète
 
Our ecological charter
Projects and developments
Businesses, join up with us
Support and associations
Links and practical information

In adopting this Charter, Infomaniak Network SA, its managers and its employees undertake to act according to the terms therein, and undertake to help it progress each year with fresh initiatives.

1. Energy

1.1 CO2
1.1.1 We offset the company's CO2 emissions fully (our staff's transport to their place of work, manufacture and disposal of the servers we buy, recycled paper, energy used, air conditioning fluid, etc...). Currently Infomaniak releases the equivalent of 60.9 tons of CO2 in one year. This figure is relatively low: this is a result of our continual efforts to use consumables that emit the lowest possible levels of CO2 into the atmosphere, but it is above all the result of our power supply that is totally hydro-electric and thus produces little emissions.

We have a myclimate certification. You can find more information about this here. The not-for-profit myclimate foundation - The Climate Protection Partnership is an international climate protection organisation based in Switzerland. myclimate promotes the gathering of knowledge about CO2 reduction, raises awareness and inspires long-term climate protection. The foundation also draws upon various management tools, such as CO2 balance sheets, CO2 reporting or a performance-management tool, to provide an optimal basis for decision-making in businesses. In addition, myclimate promotes carbon neutrality via the principle of voluntary CO2 offsetting. You can find a list of ongoing projects here. The offsetting we do is applied abroad, outside Switzerland.

1.2 Electricity
1.2.1 Electricity used by the company to power our Datacenters and offices is guaranteed to be 100% of hydraulic production.

1.3 Air Conditioning (Datacenter)
1.3.1 The air conditioning in our Datacenters is regulated in such a way that energy consumption is optimised while assuring perfect functioning of the servers at a constant temperature of 29°C at the same time.

1.4 Lighting
1.4.1 The lighting in all of our offices and computer rooms uses low energy lamps only.
1.4.2 Our offices are not lit at night and on weekends, lights in rooms that are not occupied during working hours are switched off.

1.5 Workstations
1.5.1 The office computers are put into extended standby mode at the end of the day. Similarly, monitors are switched off each evening instead of simply being put into standby mode.

More information

2. Employees and Transport

2.1 Public Transport
2.1.1 Season tickets for public transport for employees are reimbursed by the company. In exchange employees undertake not use their cars as the method of transport for getting to work.

2.1.2 For employees who live outside the town, if there is no public transport service route between their place of residence and the company, the company will reimburse the annual costs for parking on the outskirts of the town (Park and Ride) + the season ticket for public transport.

To learn more about the Park and Ride system


2.2 Green Mobility
2.2.1 Every employee, who undertakes to cycle to work in the summer is allocated a sum of money equivalent to a new, good quality bike.

Information and results of this project
2.2.2 Bicycles are made available to employees for their professional and private travel during the day. This way they have a means of transport that is fast, practical and very environmentally friendly for lunch in town and doing light shopping every day.

2.3 100 % Electric Car
2.3.1 Infomaniak has equipped itself with a car that runs solely on electric power. This is not a three-wheeler nor a hybrid vehicle but a real saloon car with a range of 130km, which does not emit any gas, fine particles, or carbon monoxide into the atmosphere. This car is ideally suited for the company for various journeys.

To learn more about the company's 100% electric car

2.4 Air Transport
2.4.1 Any business travel by air is offset by using a programme that compensates for C02 emissions.

To learn more about our method of offsetting emissions

2.5 Pension Fund
2.5.1 As from 2009 Infomaniak will be placing its trust in an ecological and ethical pension fund: Nest.
Any investments Nest undertakes are selected according to ecological and social criteria. They must contribute towards the structural development of a sustainable economy and society.
This excludes investments in companies that are involved in activities that are unacceptable from an ethical aspect.

Negative criteria are: 
  • nuclear energy 
  • agricultural genetic engineering 
  • genetic engineering in controversial medical research 
  • weapons 
  • support for authoritarian governments
  • money laundering 
  • corruption 
  • violation of human and labour rights 
  • child labour and forced labour 
  • inadequate remuneration for indigenous people/bio-piracy 
  • alcohol, tobacco, pornography, games of chance

2.6 Organic Fruits
2.6.1 Every week we arrange for a delivery of a basket of organic seasonal fruit so that all our staff have something fresh and healthy to eat whenever they want and that generates next to no waste.

3. Waste

3.1 Paper
3.1.1 All internal correspondence is conducted by email only. For external correspondence we only resort to traditional postal services or fax when it is absolutely necessary.
3.1.2 Archival is done systematically and exclusively in electronic form and without printing, using digitiser and storage and data protection software.
3.1.3 Our customers are billed online: customers are encouraged to adopt electronic payments using an invoice sent by email in PDF format. Hard-copy invoicing incurs a surcharge of 15 Chf to discourage this obsolete method.

3.2 Waste and Recycling
3.2.1 All refuse is sorted and recycled, on all levels of production. There is a waste bin and a waste paper basket targeted for recycling in every office.

3.2.2 Not one object or electric or electronic component is thrown away, whatever its weight or size: it is recovered.

3.2.3 Use of rechargeable batteries replaces use of non-rechargeables for all our electronic equipment. Chargers and recovery boxes for items whose service life is over are made available to employees.

3.2.4 Collection of waste that is hard to dispose of (scrap metal, glass, plastic, cardboard) is organised several times a year and is transported to a waste recovery centre for recycling.

3.2.5 Waste sorting has been set up in the cafeteria, containers made of PET and aluminium are separated and recovered separately for recycling.

3.2.6 Toner and printer cartridges are recovered by firms specialising in recycling these items.

3.3 Other Measures
3.3.1 Infomaniak has given up the use of disposable tableware for meals that are eaten in the office or at celebrations.

3.3.2 Disposable paper towels have been replaced by roller towels. With a linen roller towel, hands can be dried up to 150 times, plus the towel can be washed and reused about 150 times. Each roller towel can replace up to 60 000 paper towels! Afterwards, it is not destroyed but converted into cleaning cloths.

3.3.3 Bottled water and water fountains have been withdrawn in favour of water jugs and glasses. In this way greater emphasis is placed on drinking tap water.
3.3.4 Similarly to the State of Geneva (F), Infomaniak has adopted the use of microfibre cloths which significantly reduce the use of detergents and chemical cleaning agents. Microfibres are manufactured from polyamide and polyester. They possess astounding adhesive properties thanks to their structures and are very efficient for cleaning.


4. Purchases/subcontracting

4.1 Servers
4.1.1 When purchasing servers we favour servers using «low voltage» technology that have lower energy consumption (consumption of electricity and waste heat).

Selection is not made to the detriment of the power essential for our needs.

Our servers are chosen with the first criterion being quality and power, the second being their energy consumption. Models, brands or manufacturers not using these technologies are quite simply not retained.

4.2 Material and Products
4.2.1 Any paper the company uses comes only from 100% recycled paper or paper that is certified by the FSC.

4.2.2 As far as possible Infomaniak avoids buying any types of material that contain volatile organic compounds (VOC). Therefore particular attention is paid to materials and components of interior walls, floors (carpeting) and the entire working surroundings for its employees.

4.2.3 Cleaning staff are only allowed to use biodegradable products without VOC from brands with the strictest labels on the market.

Learn more about VOC and their damaging effects (French)

4.3 Purchasing Policy
4.3.1 Companies with an ecological charter or who are developing procedures or solutions that show respect for the environment are favoured over rival products or solutions.
4.3.2 Infomaniak undertakes to give its suppliers, partners or sub-contractors a sense of responsibility with regard to working with companies that are doing the most for the environment.