Smart textile collection containers, upcycling of old advertising banners, a search engine that plants trees: all these projects – and many more – have been implemented in recent years at the suggestion of employees at Deutsche Telekom. Numerous colleagues around the world are involved in various initiatives and programs that address ecological issues or support local environmental initiatives. The commitment of our employees is an expression of a corporate culture that offers room for personal initiative and addresses sustainability issues related to our CR strategy.
Our employees are not only committed to the environment and climate, but also to social issues. You can find more about this here in the CR report on the Social engagement overview page and in more detail under Volunteering and financial commitment.
Milestones achieved, ongoing projects and goals
Since 2018, Deutsche Telekom has had official sustainability ambassadors – the “Green Pioneers”. In the meantime, more than 300 employees are involved.
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Where we come from
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The internal initiative “Stop wasting, start caring” was launched. It bundled existing and new projects to conserve resources in the workplace.
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The “Stop wasting, start caring” initiative gave rise to the internal sustainability ambassadors Green Pioneers. Their goal: to bring a wide range of ideas for improvements into the company.
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At the official launch of the Green Pioneers, they defined ten focus topics for their work, which are oriented towards their core business, including paper consumption and mobile phone collection campaigns.
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On the initiative of the Green Pioneers and our HR teams, our employees planted mini-forests (“Magenta Pocket Forests”) at various locations in Germany.
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Up to this point, around 300 employees had been involved in the Green Pioneers.
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The Green Pioneers shared their knowledge with colleagues during our “Learning from Experts (LEX)” sessions.
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On the initiative of the Green Pioneers, Ecosia was set up as the default search engine on all Telekom computers. Ecosia uses its profits to finance reforestation projects.
Where we stand in the reporting year
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First ambassadors expand the Green Pioneers initiative to Mexico.
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Since the introduction of Ecosia as the group-wide default search engine in 2024, usage has increased significantly. In total, more than 25 million search queries had been carried out across the Group via Ecosia by the end of 2025. Ecosia uses its own proceeds to finance reforestation projects.
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On various occasions, such as Deutsche Telekom’s 30th anniversary, the Green Pioneers process disused Telekom advertising banners into new bags and other utensils in upcycling campaigns. They donate the proceeds from the sale to a good cause.
Where we want to go
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The Green Pioneers are increasingly expanding their activities: Internationally, our sustainability ambassadors are networking more and more and are also exchanging ideas across countries and companies.
Green Pioneers: impulses for more sustainability in everyday working life
As internal sustainability ambassadors, the Green Pioneers are on the lookout for potential for improvement and initiate measures around topics such as resource conservation, circular economy, biodiversity and mobility. Whether it is swap meets, planting and garbage collection campaigns or an in-house carpooling service: With their initiatives, the Green Pioneers create concrete points of contact for colleagues to integrate sustainability into their own everyday work – for example, by offering the opportunity to order second-hand office supplies. In this way, existing materials can continue to be used across locations and unnecessary new purchases can be avoided. In 2025, the central office supplies warehouse in Bonn processed over 160 internal orders for used office supplies.
On the initiative of the Green Pioneers, we have set up the Ecosia 2024 search engine as the standard on all Deutsche Telekom computers for daily online searches. Ecosia uses its own proceeds to finance reforestation projects. By the end of the reporting year, more than 25 million searches had been carried out via Ecosia across the Group. According to the search engine operator, this corresponds to a contribution to the planting of over 500,000 trees.
The Green Pioneers also set impulses away from everyday office life. This is how her commitment gave rise to the idea of shredding cardboard boxes generated in logistics in Germany and reusing them as filling material. In the reporting year, the Green Pioneers implemented several upcycling projects, among other things, in which disused Telekom advertising banners made of PVC and polyester were sewn into everyday products such as bags, baskets and aprons. The products were offered through an online auction and a local bazaar. The proceeds of EUR 10,000 went to the organizations Ein Herz für Kinder e.V. and One Earth – One Ocean.
In Germany, for example, the Green Pioneers are currently involved in about 60 locations and in more than 30 working groups. Depending on their location, interests and know-how, they join together to form thematic or regional “hubs”. In some areas, we support their commitment with a small amount of time.
Smart technology for textile recycling
The Green Pioneers are also dedicated to the topic of textile recycling. In Germany, smart textile containers have been set up at around 40 locations since 2021 on her initiative to collect disused work clothing and other clothing with the Telekom logo, e.g., from our Love Magenta store. IoT (“Internet of Things”) technology is installed in the special collection containers, which displays the level of textiles in the Telekom cloud. This allows us to see when the containers are full and avoid unnecessary trips to empty them. The collected textiles are then professionally recycled. What was initially conceived as a pilot project has now become a regular process. As a result, all Telekom Deutschland employees now have the opportunity to hand in disused Telekom textiles. Since 2024, the concept has also been implemented in Austria.
The commitment of the Green Pioneers in numbers
More than 300 Green Pioneers in Germany and internationally.
More than 25 million search queries via the Ecosia search engine, which uses the profits to support reforestation projects.
Green Pioneers are currently implementing projects in five countries.
Promoting knowledge sharing
The Green Pioneers have extensive knowledge that they pass on as multipliers – including at team meetings, divisional meetings, works meetings or summer parties. In doing so, they provide information in various formats about a more sustainable (working) everyday life. Experts from T‑Systems also contribute their expertise and perspectives on sustainability topics, for example in the so-called “Green Talks”. In the reporting year, the topics of the circular economy, opportunities for personal commitment and sustainability training were on the agenda. In addition, T‑Systems employees can deepen their knowledge of climate change with the help of creative methods, such as in the “Climate Fresk” workshop.
Greece: collecting marine litter
Deutsche Telekom employees are also active in environmental protection away from the Green Pioneers: for example, together with the environmental organization ENALEIA in the COSMOTE BLUE initiative, which was successfully completed in 2025. The focus of the three-year initiative was on dealing with plastic waste in the Mediterranean Sea around Greece. In cooperation with local fishermen, the organizers of ENALEIA and employees of our Greek subsidiary collected marine waste during regular fishing trips and temporarily stored it in containers provided in the ports. In addition, ENALEIA organized further clean-up campaigns in particularly heavily polluted areas. The collected materials were then handed over to certified waste disposal and recycling companies. Over the course of the project, more than 94 tons of waste were collected, of which 54.6 tons were recycled and processed into new products, according to the project partner. Another component of the initiative was an accompanying training program for fishermen: ENALEIA sensitized more than 300 participants to responsible fishing and how to deal with marine litter as part of their daily work.
Looking ahead
For seven years now, the Green Pioneers in Germany have stood for a joint commitment of employees that provides impetus for sustainability in everyday work. In the future, international exchange will also become increasingly important – in order to share experiences, learn from each other and get to know different approaches.
Deep Dive for Experts
Management & Frameworks
The “Group Corporate Responsibility” (GCR) department organizes meetings, lectures and activities for the Green Pioneers and shapes the framework conditions.