FEDEX , IBM & OFFICE DEPOT REPORT GREEN PROGRESS

[Anonymous]

http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2008/11/13/fedex-ibm-and-office-depot-report-green-progress
FedEx, IBM and Office Depot Report Green Progress
OAKLAND,
Calif. — There has been a steady stream of corporate social
responsibility reports published during the last week. Just on
Wednesday, three heavyweights — IBM, Office Depot and FedEx —
released reports touting new environmental goals and performance. Here
are some of the highlights:

— FedEx is working to optimize
routes and reduce the amount of fuel used to ships packages. It has cut
aircraft-related greenhouse gas emissions 3.7 percent per available ton
mile since 2005, and plans to cut aircraft emissions 20 percent per
available ton mile by 2020. It also wants to boost fuel efficiency of
its vehicle fleet 20 percent.To do some of this, FedEx is turning to
more efficient aircraft, such as Boeing 757 planes, which offer 20
percent more capacity while using up to 36 percent less fuel than those
currently in use. More than a quarter of its ground fleet has shifted
to smaller, more efficient cars.   

— IBM, meanwhile, shined in
reducing perfluorocompound emissions nearly 32 percent from its
semiconductor manufacturing, compared to its goal of cutting emissions
25 percent by 2010, against a 1995 baseline. Its report (PDF) also
detailed how it doubled its goal for buying recycled plastics for use
in its products, while its water conservation rate of 4.1 percent
exceeded its annual target of 2 percent. Savings from energy
conservation projects equaled 3.8 percent of total energy use,
surpassing its goal of 3.5 percent.Business growth complicated some of
its other goals, such as greenhouse gas emissions. It set a second
generation goal of reducing emissions associated with its energy use 12
percent between 2005 and 2012 through conservation and renewable
energy. Instead, net emissions rose 5 percent between 2006 and 2007.
Measured against the 2005 baseline year, emissions grew 2 percent.

—
Office Depot included a discussion of materiality in its report (PDF),
the result of stakeholder engagement and internal analysis. It
determined that the most significant environmental impacts from its
North American business operations are paper and product sourcing,
distribution and running its 1,200 stores. It began aggregating
environmental performance indicators in 2007 and aligning them with its
goals of buying, being and selling green.It improved the number of
green office products for resale by 30 percent but the amount of green
products it bought for internal use fell. Meanwhile, contract sales of
environmentally preferred items in its 2007 Green Book grew by more
than 10 percent.The amount of waste recycled by the company grew to 49
percent in the U.S., compared to 37 percent in 2006. In Europe, the
company recycled 71 percent of its waste in 2007, rather than sending
it to landfills. It also cut absolute greenhouse gas emissions from
U.S. transportation by 9.6 percent.

[Author]

November 26, 2008 at 2:03 PM