Caring for Our Environment

Our Climate Statement

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‍Overall GHG emissions

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As we transition towards a greener Astro, our overall GHG emissions in FY24 continued to decline by 1.2% to 28,361tCO2e, despite the expansion of Scope 3 Category 7 for employee commuting. Excluding this Scope 3 expansion, our overall GHG emissions in FY24 declined by 11.9% to 25,288 tCO2e.

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Energy use

Underpinned by our energy efficiency programme, our overall electricity consumption in FY24 decreased by 3.8% to 28.7 million kWh. Electricity intensity for FY24 has increased by 7.3% to 8,816 kWh per RM million of revenue.

In FY24, our solar panel harvested 1.56 million kWh of photovoltaic energy, making up 7% of the total energy consumption at AABC and is equivalent to 1,183 tCO2eof GHG emission avoidance (FY23: 1,137 tCO2e). This is also comparable to planting 29,579 trees (based on MGTC Carbon Calculator, 2024) or recycling over 51,214 bags of waste (based on USEPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, 2024). Further, we subscribed to the Green Electricity Tariff (GET), a government initiative to provide the option of obtaining green electricity generated from renewable energy sources. The GET programme is backed by Malaysia Renewable Energy Certificates (mREC) which is based on international REC standards. Electricity consumption at AABC amounting to a total of 1.2 million kWh was sourced from the renewable resources, including solar and hydropower. This has led to the avoidance of approximately 929 tCO2e of GHG emissions. In total, we saved 2,112 tCO2e in FY24 from both solar energy generation and GET subscription, equating to 7.4% of overall FY24 GHG emissions.

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Climate advocacy

As an influential climate advocate, Astro is committed to use its voice and content to advocate for a greener planet while increasing climate awareness among Malaysians via its multiplatform reach across TV, radio and digital. To that end, Astro marked the launch of its RimbaKita programme in August 2023 with the signing of a memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Astro and the WWF-Malaysia, the premiere of a dedicated RimbaKita On Demand rail showcasing environmental-centric documentaries, and various environmental programmes and initiatives.

Astro is guided by our Environmental Policy and adopts a practical approach to responsible environmental management, particularly in waste and water management. We are mindful of our water consumption and waste generation, and deploy the3R’s principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to minimise and optimise the use of all our resources, setting the foundation of our environmental stewardship.

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Waste generation

In FY24, we generated 75.2 tonnes of dry waste and 10.4 tonnes of wet waste from our cafeteria at AABC. We recycled 26.5%, or equivalent to 19.9 tonnes, of dry waste in FY24, a 6.1 percentage point jump in the recycling rate from FY23. This dry waste diversion avoided a total of 10.4 tCO2e of emissions from landfills.

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Product stewardship

Our latest decoders, namely the Ultra and Ulti Boxes are 40% and 80% smaller in size compared to their predecessors, thus reducing the materials required to manufacture these boxes. A majority of materials used for the build and packaging of these U-Boxes also comply with international standards including Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and Registration and European Union’s Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) while most electronic components used within these decoders are also Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) compliant. In FY24, we implemented a 2-phased initiative to minimise usage of plastic packaging for our products, resulting in a 58% and 97% reduction in plastic packaging for our Ultra Box and Astro Fibre router, respectively. Concurrently, we have been collecting old decoders for refurbishment and redeployment since FY21, thereby setting up circularity of decoders. Decoders that are beyond feasible repair are disposed to our Department of Environment certified e-waste disposal and recycling vendor. In FY24, we have discontinued the refurbishment activities for older, discontinued decoders (i.e., DMT4, DMT5 & HD Zapper). We have reworked a total of 14,000 units of our latest U-Boxes.

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Water consumption decreased by 8.1% in FY24 mainly due to water conservation efforts conducted. This includes utilisation of our 13,500 litre rainwater harvesting systemin AABC that enables collection of rainwater for use in daily cleaning and landscape maintenance. All restrooms within AABC and ACBC are also equipped with motion-sensor water faucets and toilet flushing systems to minimise water usage while ensuring cleanliness. The water consumption intensity increased by 2.2% to 40.5 m3 per RM million of revenue.

Climate advocacy

As an influential climate advocate, Astro is committed to use its voice and content to advocate for a greener planet while increasing climate awareness among Malaysians via its multiplatform reach across TV, radio and digital. To that end, Astro marked the launch of its RimbaKita programme in August 2023 with the signing of a memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Astro and the WWF-Malaysia, the premiere of a dedicated RimbaKita On Demand rail showcasing environmental-centric documentaries, and various environmental programmes and initiatives.

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The MOU between Astro and WWF-Malaysia aims to build public awareness and support for WWF-Malaysia’s conservation efforts by broadcasting and making available its content on Astro’s platform. Alongside this partnership, Astro also works closely with organisations including Taman Tugu Malaysia, the UNGCMYB, and many others to effect positive change towards environmental advocacy. Astro worked with renowned directors of environmental documentaries like KC Chiu from Woo Hoo Pictures for The Conservationist, Lara Ariffin from Nuvista Media for Layar Liar, TP Lim from Roots and Shoots and Myles Storey for Wang Kelian and Finding Solo, Luqman Hakim Md Zim from Belia Prihatin for Sampah Melata, Alam Merana, Bukan Nelayan Gila, and Dr. Cheryl Cheah from WWF-Malaysia for the premiere of Bornean Elephants – A Journey Through A Living Landscape, depicting a story of coexistence with these gentle giants as they traverse through the Sabah landscape. These documentaries highlight environmental awareness and showcase the rich biodiversity of our forests in a dedicated RimbaKita On Demand rail, which we will continue to make available to all customers from time to time.

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As part of the programme, a Rimba Kita Run was held at Taman Wetland Putrajaya on Sunday, 24 September 2023, which attracted 1,200 participants. Proceeds from the registration were channel led towards vital environmental conservation and preservation efforts, including the adoption of 27 trees at Taman Tugu. Astro is committed to tree sponsorship with Taman Tugu, and tree planting by Team Astro with the Global Environment Centre.

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