Among other findings: Sixty-nine percent of small business professionals participate in one or more [...]]]> Office Depot announced sales of environmentally preferable products in its catalog of green products increased by more than 10 percent in 2007.The Boca Raton-based company said the increase can be attributed, in part, to a growing interest in green behaviors by small businesses.

Among other findings:
Sixty-nine percent of small business professionals participate in one or more of the following activities: recycling paper, bottles, ink cartridges and/or technology; purchasing Energy Star-rated technology, recycled paper, remanufactured ink and toner cartridges, refillable products and compact fluorescent light bulbs; and printing on both sides of the paper.Eight-five percent claim they are going green to protect the environment or to save money.

Sales from Office Depot’s Green Book rose to $725 million in 2007, up from $660 million in 2006. Office Depot launched the Green Book in 2003.“What these Green Book sales numbers tell us is that our customers appreciate Office Depot’s strategy of providing a wide assortment of green products, and promoting them within innovative sales vehicles,” said Steve Schmidt, executive vice president of Office Depot’s Business Solutions Division.

Via: bizjournals.com

– FedEx is working to optimize routes and reduce the amount [...]]]> 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.

Via: greenbiz.com

The NASCAR industry, which recycled more than 80 tons and 2.5 million containers in the [...]]]> 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.

Via: nascar.com

But [...]]]> In the midst of a recession that has hit business and consumer spending especially hard, it may not be so surprising that retailer Office Depot is having a rough go of things: The No. 2 office-supplies chain lost money in each of the past five quarters and is expected to lose $96 million this year.

But the company, based in Boca Raton, Fla., is facing troubles that go deeper than reduced demand for paper and pens: namely, an investigation by the SEC that’s in the final stages of settlement and a fresh round of probes into whether the company overcharged government customers.

Office Depot CEO Steve Odland, who has run the $14.5 billion (in revenue) chain since 2005, says Office Depot (ODP, Fortune 500) is a victim of attacks by disgruntled ex-employees. Indeed, Odland, 51, who previously served as CEO of Autozone under investor Eddie Lampert, is beloved by his board and many investors — one of which, venture capital firm BC Partners, agreed to throw Office Depot a lifeline in the form of a $350 million investment last June.

Office Depot won’t comment on the investigation; as part of the settlement, which is still awaiting approval, it would neither confirm nor deny wrongdoing.

Now a new round of allegations accuse the company of overcharging city and state municipalities by as much as $100 million a year. The charges stem from an ex-employee, David Sherwin, a former senior account manager who was fired in 2008 (and who has admitted to accepting payments from Office Depot competitors for his whistleblowing efforts).

But his allegations, which began in 2008, sparked investigations by the attorneys general of six states as well as the Department of Justice — and government audits have started to verify his claims. Office Depot has since repaid several municipalities, from Lee County, Fla. ($121,000), to the state of California ($2.5 million). That’s far from Sherwin’s $100 million estimate, but the numbers are getting bigger: In December, San Francisco released audit results that showed $5.75 million in overcharges.

But San Francisco and Lee County have already switched their contracts, valued at more than $18 million, to industry leader Staples (SPLS, Fortune 500); the state of California has put its contract out to bid. With the stock at $7, down from the mid-30s in 2007, the changes had better pay off soon.

Via: money.cnn.com