Newsweek's profiles of the Top 10 greenest US companies
My previous post listed the Top 5 rankings
both in the US and globally from Newsweek’s research. Here are Newsweek’s
profiles of its Top 10 greenest US companies.
No 10. Nike
Nike stands out for its particularly strong
commitment to handling environmental issues in its supply chain. The company
has a number of programs in place for evaluating and improving the
environmental footprint of its suppliers, including checks on chemical
toxicity, water use, and carbon emissions. Nike is also progressing toward
carbon neutrality itself and aims to achieve it for company-owned facilities
and business travel by 2015. The company has worked to improve its own
environmental performance through increased efficiency and use of renewable
energy. For instance, it has reduced energy use substantially at some of its
facilities by installing energy efficient lighting and HVAC systems, and its
headquarters in Belgium and the Netherlands currently run on 100 percent
renewable energy (the Belgium facility actually produces more energy than it
uses). Nike is also investing in new teleconferencing equipment to cut down on
business travel. Nike had a Reputation Survey score of 97.39 (based on a survey
of academics, sustainability experts, and CEOs).
No 9. Yahoo
Yahoo. This
Internet giant encourages its 600
million worldwide users to be environmentally aware. Its Yahoo Green site is the top destination on the Internet
for green lifestyle tips. The company has also supported and worked on related
initiatives, including its “Be a Better Planet” program and its
annual Earth Day Web site. Yahoo is also a leader in improving the efficiency
of its data centres. Its efforts include purchasing energy from renewable
sources, such as hydroelectric facilities, and locating new data centres in
cooler climates to reduce AC needs. Its new data centre in Lockport, N.Y.,
which monitors the Yahoo infrastructure, consumes 40 percent less energy and
uses 95 percent less water than conventional data centres. The water saved is
enough to provide drinking water for 200,000 people for a year.
No 8. Applied Materials
This supplier of manufacturing systems and services to
the global semiconductor industry made great strides in reducing CO2 emissions
and water use last year, cutting each by 21 percent and 18 percent,
respectively, compared to 2006 levels. Both those reductions exceeded Applied Materials’ greening goals, but Applied also
acknowledges 2009 was an “unusual” year and says it is reviewing
internal data to try to maintain and improve on those numbers. The company also
has programs for reducing the hazardous waste it generates and the volatile organic
compounds (VOCs) it emits as part of its manufacturing. It has also made
significant strides in reducing solid waste sent to landfills by nearly 90
percent.
No 7. Adobe.
Three areas on which Adobe has focused are their office building
operations, their waste management program, and their product packaging. The
company currently has four buildings that are LEED certified by the U.S. Green
Building Council at the Platinum (highest) level, making Adobe a world leader
in this area. Employees at the company’s headquarters in San Jose, Calif., also
actively recycle and compost, diverting up to 97 percent of the site’s solid
waste from landfill. Lastly, Adobe launched an environmentally sensitive
redesign of its software packaging based on an evaluation of its packaging
materials, production, use, and disposal. The firm’s overall Green Rankings
green score came in at 94.15.
No 6. Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel was
the first U.S.-based wireless provider to announce a target for reducing its
absolute greenhouse-gas emissions. The goal: reduce emissions by 15 percent
between 2007 and 2017 by improving energy efficiency within its networks, and
by using renewable energy sources, such as hydrogen fuel cells, to replace
backup generators at its cell towers. The company boasts a portfolio of three
environmentally friendly phones, which is unusual in the industry. It also has
a well-known product-recycling program in which customers can return their old
cell phones, batteries, and accessories, regardless of brand, to Sprint for
free using a postage-paid label. In some cases, Sprint will even buy back old
equipment. Their aim is to recycle 99 percent of products; as of 2009 they were
recycling nearly half.
No 5. Intel
Intel’s efforts
to reduce waste and to mitigate its use and release of toxics are notable. It
has high recycling rates for both hazardous and non-hazardous waste and is
working to find suitable alternatives for toxic components in its products.
Intel also has a strong commitment to energy efficiency. The company ties a
portion of its employees’ compensation to reaching environmental goals, and its
Intel Core and Atom chips are among its greenest products. The corporation has
been the Environmental Protection Agency’s largest green power purchaser among
Fortune 500 companies for the past three years, with almost half its U.S.
energy coming from renewable sources. NEWSWEEK’s Rankings gave them an
environmental impact score of 95.74.
No 4. Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson stands
out among its competitors for its climate-change policies, with clear goals and
deadlines for reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. This includes the
reduction of baseline 1990 CO2 emission levels by 7 percent by 2010, goal the
company surpassed with a 16 percent absolute reduction. Between 2005 and 2009,
the company also reduced nonhazardous waste by 32 percent and hazardous waste
by 32 percent, exceeding its goal of 10 percent. Similar goals in paper, packaging,
and energy efficiency have been met or improved on through steps like the
company’s largest installation of solar panels at a New Jersey site. As a
result, a comprehensive assessment of their environmental initiatives earned
them a Green Policies score of 98.86 in our rankings.
No 3. IBM.
This global technology manufacturer has a strong program
for reducing its own greenhouse gas emissions and also offers products and
consulting services to help clients make their businesses greener. IBM set
out in the 1990s to reduce its own consumption of electricity and water, and
between 1990 and 2000 cut its energy use by 5.1 billion kilowatt hours, enough
to power a medium-size town. The company’s newest venture, its Sustainability
Management System technology, aims to help clients operate their commercial
buildings more efficiently. The product was a home-grown solution, allowing an
IBM semiconductor factory in Burlington, Vt., to cut water usage (a key
ingredient in chip-making) by 30 percent. The company has also participated in
a pilot program to reduce Stockholm’s traffic congestion, which resulted in a
14 percent drop in emissions from road traffic in the inner city. IBM is
working with London, Singapore, and Brisbane to address their
traffic-management and congestion challenges. For its overall excellent scores,
IBM ranked No. 3 on the U.S. list and No. 1 on the Global ranking.
No 2. Hewlett Packard
HP has long
been an industry leader in environmental issues. The company dates its
commitment to the philosophy of its founders, Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard,
who believed technology can improve society. One of its most notable programs
aims to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and use renewable energy. In 2008, HP
began reporting greenhouse gases associated with its supply chain, making it
the first major tech company to do so. It is also working to reduce the energy
use of its products. If all the printers, PCs, and servers shipped in 2005 (all
models, all brands, globally) were recycled and replaced with new HP
energy-efficient models, the company estimates customers could save more than
$10.4 billion in energy costs and avoid the release of more than 40 million
metric tons of CO2 in the first year. That’s equivalent to shutting down 10
coal plants for an entire year. In addition to a strong Environmental Impact
Score (90.60), the company did very well in our Reputation Score, making it a
close second to Dell.
No 1. Dell
Dell has
built its sustainability strategy over the years by setting a series of
ambitious goals, several of which it has already met. In 2008, the company
announced it would reduce its total emissions by 40 percent by 2015. It is well
on the way to achieving that goal. Many of Dell’s efforts are also focused on
reducing the environmental impact of its products at all stages of their life
cycles, from design to disposal. The company’s laptops and desktops are now
built to use 25 percent less energy than comparable systems made in 2005. That
effort, among others, has saved its customers more than $5 billion in energy
costs over the past few years. The company has also used 7.2 million pounds of
post-consumer recycled plastic to build new computers–the equivalent of
recycling 263 million water bottles. Dell also has one of the tech industry’s
most comprehensive recycling programs. The company takes back and recycles any of
its products for free, and will also take back competitors’ products at no cost
with the purchase of new Dell computers or peripherals. Consumers can also mail
back old equipment, Dell will pick up items at their homes, or they can drop
them off at more than 2,000 Goodwill or 1,500 Staples locations. Based on their
strong Environmental Impact score, Reputation score, and excellent Green
Policies score, Dell was the No. 1 company in NEWSWEEK’s 2010 Green Rankings.
Start the conversation
0 comments