Manitoba Public Insurance promotes and supports sustainable development in a variety of ways. From how we construct our buildings to the initiatives we help advance, we are committed to creating a cleaner and healthier environment.
Our facilities
We ensure that our buildings are built and operated in an environmentally friendly manner.
Most of our buildings are certified to the LEED or Green Globes standards for new construction or major renovations and BOMA Best for the operation of existing buildings. Our portfolio also includes two BOMA Building of the Year awards and three Earth awards.
We have also reduced the footprint of our facilities, and occupy 125,000 square feet less than we did in 2010.
In addition, we take clear steps to ensure our facilities are all free of potential environmental hazards. Working with damaged vehicles creates a potential for leaking fluids, a potential hazard to both our workplaces, properties and the broader environment. We manage this risk by inspecting vehicles entering our properties and, where necessary, using spills kits to contain and collect fluids for safe treatment and disposal. We routinely test our properties for vehicle contaminants, to further verify that our vehicle handling operations are not causing environmental concerns.
Recycling
Manitoba Public Insurance is a corporate leader in recycling and putting recycled goods to active use – in a wide variety of ways.
Vehicles that are written off following a collision are sold to automobile parts recyclers and the general public, then rebuilt or used for parts. Our salvage operation sells approximately 30,000 total loss vehicles each year. At an average of 3,500 pounds per vehicle, that equals more than 105 million pounds (or 52,500 tons) of vehicles sold. That’s comparable to the weight of the Titanic!
We also used recycled parts in repairs, wherever feasible. Besides being environmentally friendly, this helps reduce claims costs while ensuring quality repairs.
In auction vehicles with intact air conditioning systems, remaining CFCs are captured prior to sale for recycling or safe disposal. In 2017-18, CFCs were captured from more than 26,000 vehicles.
Across our workplaces, we have recycling programs for paper, metal, plastics, glass, batteries and more. We also donate our older electronics, building fixtures and other materials to groups who can continue to use them.
In addition to recycling, we continue to reduce our paper consumption by doing more business electronically. Sustainability is a consideration in all our procurement processes.
Green transportation
At Manitoba Public Insurance, we fully support green transportation and commuting.
- To encourage employee commuting by bus, the Corporation participates in the Winnipeg Transit Eco Pass program which offers employees a monthly pass at a discounted rate.
- To promote active commuting, we provide bike racks or secure storage rooms at all locations.
- We’ve reduced the size of our commercial vehicle fleet, and a portion of our current fleet are fuel-efficient hybrid vehicles.
- MPI and its employees support and participate in events that promote sustainable actions and active transportation, including Bike to Work Day.