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.
The folks at West MacDonnell National Park in Australia had a brilliant idea for a new bike path connecting Alice Springs and Simpsons Gap. They made it out of junked ink cartridges. The material can last far longer than timber, and is a great way to reuse plastics. Plus, it looks great, and all for a fraction of the cost.Red Ferret pointed us to a news article in the Centralian Advocate, which reports that the 17km path and a new viewing platform were completed for just $130,000 thanks to the use of recycled materials. Because this material will last so much longer than wood, it will save the park a lot of money in the long run.
Parks and Wildlife Minister Karl Hampton stated, “Every year more than 120,000 people visit the magnificent West MacDonnell National Park, and by investing in our parks we are able to ensure visitors have a unique experience while we protect our environment… In keeping with our government’s commitment to sustainable development, the bridge is made from recycled plastic decking or Replas, saving landfill, trees and ensuring a longer life with less maintenance. Alice Springs has a great bike culture and with the upgrades complete, residents can enjoy a short ride after school or work or longer weekend explorations, while tourists can get to know and enjoy the natural environment around the town.”We’ve also seen ink cartridges used as “eLumber” from Lexmark, which processes collected ink cartridges into materials perfect for building decks and landscaping. And we can’t help but notice that they make lovely lamps:
For centuries, mankind has debated whether there’s such a thing as reincarnation. But while we may never know the answer when it comes to living beings, we do know that more and more empty printer ink cartridges are being cleaned, inspected, refilled, and reincarnated as remanufactured ink cartridges. These recycled cartridges help reduce solid waste, and they’re more affordable than they were when they were new. But it’s not the big printer and ink OEMs like HP, Canon, Epson and Lexmark that make and sell remanufactured cartridges – it’s independent companies that undercut the high-priced OEM ink and toner cartridges. That’s why it’s newsworthy that a notable OEM like Dell has partnered with green branding and marketing firm NextLife to offer NextLife remanufactured ink cartridges. According to NextLife, these cartridges “have a 30% lower carbon footprint than newly manufactured cartridges” with a “higher percentage of recycled content than competitors: 43% – 62% is reclaimed materials.” In addition, NextLife ink cartridge packaging features “50% post-consumer waste and is 100% recyclable.”
What’s interesting to me is that Dell is selling remanufactured ink cartridges for HP, Canon, Epson and Lexmark printers, but not for Dell printers. It makes sense because the economic outlook is good for remanufactured cartridges, eco-friendliness is in vogue, and Dell is undercutting its competitors without undercutting its own OEM ink cartridges. That said, after a quick glance at some of the NextLife cartridges on the Dell website, the prices don’t seem much lower than their OEM counterparts, and they’re notably higher than remanufactured cartridges from other third party companies. One example is the Lexmark 16 Black Ink Cartridge (10N0016). The OEM version goes for $32.99, while the NextLife version costs $29.99. But if you want to go green and save green, you can get the same basic remanufactured ink cartridge for a lot less from a more established vendor. NextLife claims that its remanufactured cartridges have a higher page yield than the competition, although the reliability of cartridge yield numbers is open to debate.
Personally, I’m interested in seeing how HP, Canon, Epson and Lexmark respond to Dell’s new product. HP has been especially vocal in questioning the reliability and print quality of third party remanufactured cartridges, although I suspect that it has more to do with the notably lower prices than any indisputable evidence. My guess is that the four OEMs won’t be as worried about NextLife cartridges because they won’t pose as much of a threat in terms of price. It seems that NextLife will rely more on its green branding, as well as a 21 day money back guarantee. But will the strategy work? In the end, it could all depend on whether NextLife ink can gain the trust of the public over cheaper alternatives without waking the sleeping OEMs.
As the world prepares for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, NASCAR has announced an expansion to its event recycling program, which began one year ago in collaboration with Coca-Cola Recycling, and already is the largest in sports.
The NASCAR industry, which recycled more than 80 tons and 2.5 million containers in the 2009 season through working with Coca-Cola Recycling, will expand bottle and can recycling from the grandstands, concourse, suites and garage to the campgrounds, while also including cardboard and ink cartridge recycling.“Together with our partners, we’ll continue to make a real difference.”MIKE LYNCH
With Office Depot, Coors Light and UPS joining NASCAR’s recycling program and working with Coca-Cola Recycling, it is anticipated approximately 100 tons of material (including more than three million containers) from NASCAR race tracks will be diverted from landfills and recycled next year.
Office Depot, the Official Office Products Partner of NASCAR and co-primary sponsor of Tony Stewart and the No. 14 Chevrolet, is underwriting the overall program at the sport’s Earth Day celebration at Texas Motor Speedway,and piloting an ink and toner cartridge recycling program at track for the first time. Recycling bins for printer cartridges will be located at the No. 14 Office Depot/Old Spice merchandise haulers in the fan Midway area at Texas Motor Speedway, as well as in the infield media center. Through the Office Depot ink and toner recycling program, more than 40 million ink and toner cartridges have been returned since the program began in 1993.
Coors Light, the official beer of NASCAR, will be working with Coca-Cola Recycling to begin piloting a recycling program in the campgrounds that in 2010 will launch at Chicagoland Speedway. Campgrounds recycling, a critical component for the sport’s waste reduction-efforts since approximately one third of recyclable material at the track comes from the campgrounds, is planned to eventually expand to the entire circuit. Coca-Cola, the official soft drink of NASCAR, will continue to facilitate all at-track recycling through collaboration of its Coca-Cola Recycling division with Office Depot, Coors Light on campgrounds recycling, and UPS for cardboard recycling.
Minneapolis based Target announced Tuesday that it is rolling out a massive nationwide recycling initiative with centers at the front of each of its 1,740 U.S. stores. The recycling stations will accept aluminum, glass and plastic beverage containers, plastic bags, MP3 players, cell phones and printer ink cartridges“The launch of store recycling stations allows us to continue to partner with [our guests] to curb unnecessary waste in our stores and our communities,” said Shawn Gensch, vice president of brand marketing, Target.
Over the course of the last several months, retail chain Target has ramped up its sustainability programs and image, partially in response to retail giant Walmart’s big push to become more sustainable, which includes programs to green its supply chain, use less energy and produce less waste.
But Target isn’t just copying the sustainability programs their friends down in Bentonville, Arkansas are rolling out (though they should probably copy some of them), they’re forging their own path with some unique programs of their own, recently announcing they would no longer sell farmed salmon.
And whether they would admit to it or not, the Target recycling move puts a bit of pressure back on Walmart to up the ante, thereby contributing to a kind of ’race to the top’ — at least until the term was commandeered by the Obama administration.