Hong Leong Bank Goes Green With Bankwide Upgrade to Use 100% Recycled Paper

Hong Leong Bank Berhad (“HLB” or “the Bank”) announced their bank-wide initiative to shift from the use of virgin pulp paper to 100% recycled paper for their external and internal print requirements. HLB’s joint effort with Malaysian Newsprint Industries (MNI), a 100% recycling newsprint mill and leading newsprint provider in Malaysia under the wider Hong Leong Group, makes HLB the first bank in Malaysia to adopt a 100% recycled paper for the majority of its print requirements.

The use includes promotional leaflets/flyers, application forms, letterheads, ATM receipts, customer loan statements, their annual reports and all computer-generated forms. All the recycled paper intended for use by the Bank which is solely provided by MNI are sourced through 100% post-consumer fibers.

“This effort is part of HLB’s sustainability journey and our decision to upgrade to 100% recycled paper for the majority of our print requirements bank-wide is to complement our efforts in reducing our overall carbon footprint as well as to put into practice the use of recycled materials in a more meaningful way. By approaching the concept of recycling from a sourcing perspective, we are better able to create a more significant impact with saving over 1,930 trees per annum. We started with the Bank’s annual report for this year as part of our first initiative prior to the wider adoption and have so far received a positive response to the effort from both investors and customers,” said Domenic Fuda, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of HLB.

“HLB’s adoption is a significant milestone for the recycling industry i.e. having an organisation adopt the use of a 100% recycled product holistically throughout their business and operations. It is the best marketing campaign for the product and MNI. In using recycled paper, we are helping to safeguard our forests as it saves at least 17 trees per one ton of recycled paper, consume less energy, conserve our water resources and reduce our world’s carbon footprint. We are also currently working with the Ministry of Education and several publishing associations with the same goal in mind,” said Otto Pichler, Chief Executive Officer of MNI.

MNI’s move to work with the Ministry of Education is to use recycled paper for all schools in Malaysia, provisioning paper stationery products listed in more than 400 merchants nationwide including hypermarkets, stationery and book stores. The paper, which is of very high quality is certified by ISO 14001, SIRIM, MyHijau and UNFCCC Kyoto Protocol Rules for its reduction in greenhouse gas emission.

Hong Leong Bank Berhad is one of the leading financial services organisations in Malaysia. With a heritage of more than 100 years, it provides comprehensive financial services covering consumer banking, business banking and trade finance, treasury, branch and transaction banking, wealth management, private banking and Islamic financial services. Its merger with EON Bank Group in 2011 has further embedded its position as a core banking franchise with an expanded distribution network of more than 300 branches across the country.

With a proven track record in value creation and a highly recognised brand, Hong Leong Bank has also been extending its footprint in the region, with branches in Singapore and Hong Kong and wholly owned subsidiaries in Vietnam and Cambodia. In China, the Bank has a 20% shareholding in Bank of Chengdu Co., Ltd., Sichuan and a consumer finance joint venture.

Hong Leong Bank is a subsidiary of Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad, the financial services arm of the Hong Leong Group. Apart from banking, Hong Leong Financial Group is involved in the provision of insurance and takaful, as well as investment banking, unit trust, fund management and stock broking services.