MTS takes a responsible approach to its own environmental impact by continuously increasing the level of environmental responsibility of its business, launching diverse programs and projects: from carbon neutrality initiatives to environmental enlightenment lessons. The Company helps customers and partners be more environmentally responsible: it develops and introduces comprehensive digital services and solutions that reduce the level of negative environmental impact.

Environmental care is an integral part of the MTS Group’s ESG strategy and includes three strategic areas — “Responsible Resource Management”, “E-Waste Management” and “Carbon Management”.

MTS activities in environmental protection are based on the legislation of the Russian Federation and are governed by environmental policy. Design of MTS network facilities includes “List of Actions for Environmental Protection”, development of which is carried out in accordance with requirements of GOST R 21.1101-2013.

In 2023, “Production and Consumption Waste Management” Standard was introduced setting the requirements for the management of waste generated as a result of the Company’s business and other activities at the facilities causing negative impact on the environment. The Standard is targeted at the following:

• compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation in the field of production and consumption waste management,
• desire to reduce environmental risks and ensure environmental safety at facilities causing a negative impact on human health and the environment when handling production and consumption waste,
• desire to introduce and maintain circular economy approaches when managing production and consumption waste in the implementation of the Company’s business and other activities.

The Policy “Ecological Safety and Environmental Protection at Facilities for the Purpose of Administration” covers the MTS Group activities as well. Subsidiaries join the Environmental Policy in a consolidated manner and adapt their internal documents as they join.

The Company has built a unified environmental management system, which ensures compliance with the standards and requirements of environmental legislation.

Strategic approaches to manage environmental impact are also reflected in the Company’s ESG Strategy; dedicated cross-functional task forces were established for certain areas (electronic waste (e-waste), carbon management, introduction and scaling of RSO programs, etc.). Issues of efficient management of environmental risks, related activities and initiatives are governed by the “Ecology” compliance program.

Energy Efficiency Management

The MTS “Strategy of Energy Savings and Energy Efficiency” in place is aimed at restricting growth and reducing electric energy specific consumption. To reduce energy consumption by base stations, MTS uses modern energy-saving equipment. Moreover, this segment is a driver of technological innovation and has significant potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2023, the Company experts developed and introduced personalized courses, interactive simulators and tests on electrical safety groups II, III, IV and V on the Corporate University portal. The events allow not only testing the employee knowledge, but also saving time to confirm competence in electrical safety, registration of the documentation required and obtaining of a certificate.

MTS actively uses modern renewable energy systems to ensure stable operation of base stations in hard-to-reach areas. They have proven their efficiency due to their environmental cleanliness and low cost of operation.

MTS pays special attention to improving the efficiency of resource use. Amount of electric power used by MTS in 2023 was 1,929.3 million kWh (+2.9%)¹.

¹ Increased electric power consumption in MTS PJSC for 2023 is associated with the network development (new construction), the commissioning of new data centers and an increase in traffic volume.

Carbon Management

Carbon management is one of the strategic areas of the MTS ESG strategy. Understanding the relevance and importance of the carbon agenda for society, the Company regularly discloses a wide range of environmentally significant data about its activities, including resource consumption, as well as volumes of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions.

MTS supports decarbonization and contributes to the global fight against climate change. The Company considers climate risks in its activities and implements measures to reduce its carbon footprint, as well as offers technological solutions allowing the customers to control the change in climate factors.

With the development of the MTS ecosystem digital business, energy consumption and, accordingly, the volume of greenhouse gas emissions are naturally growing. In order to manage these issues in 2023 in an efficient manner, the Ecology functional group, together with the Carbon Management Task Force, developed a draft Strategy to Manage Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Achieve MTS Goals to Reduce Carbon Footprint considering the specifics of the telecom and IT sectors.

Volume of Energy Resources Used by MTS PJSC in 2023

Resource type	In kind
	Quantity	Unit of measurement
Electric power	1,929,271,396	kWh
Heat power	43,222.57	Gcal
Water supply	209,640.15	m3
Gas supply	1,621,881.79	m3
Petrol	2,509,952	liters
Diesel fuel	4,025,081	liters
Liquified petroleum gas — propane	10,188	liters

Circular Economy Development

MTS strives to integrate the circular economy principles into business processes, extend the service life of equipment and increase the waste recycling volume. The Company pays special attention to e-waste recycling (mobile devices, computers, batteries, etc.), as they can cause a negative impact on the environment due to the hazardous metals and toxic substances they contain. MTS strictly monitors compliance with the requirements of the Russian legislation in part of availability of valid licenses for waste collection and disposal from contractors. The Company builds a comprehensive environmental management system, including by introducing a corporate standard for industrial and consumer waste management.

In 2023, the implementation and consistent scaling of environmentally significant initiatives of the Life Cycle Laboratory comprehensive ecosystem project continued. The project was scaled to Data Clearing Houses, which made it possible to increase the volume of secondary material resources sent for processing.

In 2023, over 1,800 tons of recyclables were collected and transferred to the responsible contractors for processing and disposal at the MTS Group facilities. Technologies increasing the IT equipment service life were actively introduced. In partnership with SuperWave in 2023, 440.8 thousand units of customer equipment were restored under the customer equipment referral program 34,144 kg of plastic and 23,030 kg of electronic components were transferred for responsible disposal.

MTS continues to scale its electronic document management system not only within the Company, but also in its subsidiaries. Thus, the implementation of the online employment project made it possible to completely switch from paper to digital.