Waging war on waste on World Cleanup Day

Saving the world is now a prominent topic of discussion in boardrooms as organizations focus on reducing their carbon footprint.

According to NTT’s 2022–23 Global Network Report, top-performing organizations – defined as those with double-digit revenue growth and operating profit as a percentage of revenue – are nearly 90% more likely than underperformers to focus on sustainability and environmental, social and governance goals.

Dimension Data and NTT, our parent company, are no exception. We are committed to building a more sustainable future in line with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

As part of this commitment, NTT supported World Cleanup Day, held on Saturday, 17 September, this year. This initiative brings together volunteers, governments and organizations in 191 countries to address the world’s waste problems.

Dimension Data volunteers take to the streets of Majengo in Nairobi, Kenya

A clean sweep in Kenya

In Kenya, we teamed up with the Darren Hart Foundation, a local charity organization, to clean up some of the main routes through Majengo, a largely low-income neighborhood in central Nairobi.

A team of 33 Dimension Data staff members joined a group of 200 volunteers on the Friday before World Cleanup Day. They selected specific areas of Majengo to sweep and clear of trash, and collected more than 100 bags of waste – an estimated 4.2 tons.

Many of the area’s drains flow into the Nairobi River – along with the accumulated trash. So, the volunteers also unblocked these drains to limit water pollution and prevent flooding.

We sponsored cleaning kits and hired a garbage truck to transport the rubbish bags to a disposal site.

Throughout the day, the volunteers also educated residents of Majengo on how to sort and dispose of their trash. The foundation had spoken to community leaders earlier and they were happy to get help in cleaning up their neighborhood. They were even surprised that it was an all-volunteer initiative!

We are now thinking of ways to help these communities in the long term, for example by sponsoring permanent garbage-collection points.

We encourage our people to volunteer and assist a charity or cause that is close to their heart

The long road to sustainability

In total, nearly 1,000 NTT employees took part in 38 World Cleanup Day events across 18 countries this year, including South Africa and India. It was our largest volunteering event yet.

In South Africa, more than 150 of our people collected 364 bags of litter in the cities of Johannesburg, Cape Town and Gqeberha that would otherwise have ended up in rivers or the ocean.

We see sustainability as an ongoing effort that has a lasting impact on the world’s complex environmental challenges. In addition to making a difference in the communities where we work, we’re focusing on reducing waste, water and emissions in our operations and services, and using our technologies to help regenerate the environment. We’re aiming to power our global data centers entirely with renewable energy by 2030.

All our people can apply for up to three days’ volunteer leave annually, to help them support a cause or charity close to their heart or one that is supported by our organization.

We also want Dimension Data and NTT to be attractive to job-seekers. Our people should be proud to work for an organization that cares about our planet and our communities, and which aims to do more good and less harm.

Read more about NTT’s sustainability ambitions.

Stephanie Mwega is Marketing Director, East & West Africa, at Dimension Data Middle East and Africa