NTT DATA’s eco-warriors unite for World Cleanup Day

Every September, World Cleanup Day unites millions of volunteers, governments and organizations in 191 countries to tackle the global waste problem.

This year, NTT DATA proudly participated once again to show our commitment to environmental sustainability.

Between 16 and 27 September, more than 2,300 of our employees came together to clean up their local communities at more than 70 events across 30 countries. The high level of enthusiasm and participation is proof of our dedication to fostering a culture of environmental responsibility among our employees.

Overall, our volunteers collected more than 8,500kg of litter. This impressive achievement is a testament to our ongoing commitment to promoting cleaner, healthier communities.

Our initiatives also extended beyond waste collection: in some countries, we organized educational workshops for schools and launched awareness campaigns highlighting the importance of waste management and conservation. We planted more than 3,000 trees in different regions and even cleaned up a high school.

• ALSO READ → We live sustainability every day at NTT DATA

What did we achieve?

Here are a few highlights of our activities around the globe for World Cleanup Day:

• Australia and New Zealand: As part of planning for World Cleanup Day, we planted trees during winter (to align with local planting times) to clean the air. Our 2,916 new trees will store 6 tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent and produce 17 tons of oxygen in their lifetime.
• Indonesia: We partnered with World Cleanup Indonesia to clean Tanjung Pasir Beach in Banten (where we collected 153kg of trash) and planted 100 mangrove plants to help prevent coastal erosion.
• Philippines: Twenty-one volunteers collected 50 sacks of waste, totaling an impressive 535kg. The waste mostly comprised single-use plastics like bottles and sachets. We also gathered rubber, clothes and other textiles from the shoreline of Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park’s Freedom Island.

Cleaning the shoreline at Las Piñas-Parañaque Wetland Park in the Philippines

• Thailand: Working with Promise (Thailand) and with support from Waste Buy Delivery, we sponsored a sustainable cleaning program at Chumchon Moobaan Pattana School in Klong Toey, Bangkok, with environmental workshops for students and a waste-collection challenge. We collected 39.7kg of waste and involved 198 participants, including 142 teachers and students.
• India: We took part in two exciting activities. First, a virtual student-sensitization session raised environmental awareness among 195 students from Hindi-, Marathi- and Urdu-medium schools. It covered the importance of World Cleanup Day, sustainable practices and the role students can play in curbing plastic pollution. Then, our employees went on a cleanup drive in Aarey Forest, the “green lungs of Mumbai”. We not only cleaned the area (with 206kg of waste collected) but also raised awareness of waste management, the impact of plastic pollution and the need to safeguard our green spaces.

Picking up trash in the forest in Mumbai, India

• Germany: Our local CEO and two board members were among other executives who joined nearly 90 employees for cleanup events in Munich and Hamburg, among other locations.
• Luxembourg: We organized a workshop on the circular economy where participants met Marcel Barros, Co-Founder and President of Repair Café Luxembourg, who built an energy-storage system from upcycled batteries he had collected over three years, with the aim of helping people in need in Ukraine.
• South Africa: In Johannesburg, we cleaned up St Ansgar’s Combined School, painted 13 classrooms, repacked books in the library and disposed of books that were out of the curriculum. We also planted vegetables to support the school’s feeding scheme. In Durban, we painted three classrooms at Wiggins Secondary School and tidied up the outside of the school.

Tidying up a school in Johannesburg, South Africa

• The Netherlands: We disposed of some unusual discarded objects, including a nitrous-oxide cylinder, that had been found in an area close to our offices in Den Bosch. 
• Canada: A small but mighty NTT DATA team cleaned Stan Wadlow Park in Toronto and gathered five bags of trash. Many dog-walkers and joggers stopped to thank us for our efforts, and some even joined in.
• Japan: We also thank our colleagues from NTT DATA headquarters in Japan for joining in the initiative. More than 70 employees took part there and collected over 25kg of waste.

Coming together to make a difference in Japan

We achieve great things when we work together

All these achievements are aligned with NTT DATA’s broader sustainability ambition under the themes Connected Planet, Connected Economy and Connected Communities. We want to see all our employees regularly taking part in sustainability-focused activities, and the success of World Cleanup Day 2024 is a step forward in realizing these ambitious targets.

Every act to protect our planet counts. When we all come together and act at the same time, the impact grows exponentially.