Environment is material to Reed Elsevier because environmental disruptions could negatively affect the conduct of our business. Moreover, we have an environmental footprint and, as a leading publisher of environmental science, it is incumbent on us to pursue good internal environmental practice.
Reed Elsevier and its businesses have a direct impact on the environment, principally through the use of energy and water, the generation of waste, and business travel, and in our supply chain, through paper use, transportation and print and production technologies. We are committed to limiting this impact and continually improving our environmental performance.
Objectives
We have definitive environmental targets as stipulated through the RE Environmental Management System (EMS), aligned with the ISO 14001 environmental standard. We are committed to actively reducing our direct environmental impact by limiting resource use and by efficiently employing sustainable materials and technologies. We require our suppliers and contractors to meet the same objectives through our Socially Responsible Supplier programme.
Results
We believe it is important to set and achieve absolute targets if we are to meet our environmental obligations as a large multinational company. To relate year on year changes in our environmental performance to changes in our business, including acquisitions and divestments, organic growth and outsourcing, we compare absolute results with Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation (EBITDA).
The following table shows how we performed against our targets.
We began setting environmental targets, based on internal and external expertise, in 2003. In 2009, we achieved absolute reductions in production paper use and travel emissions, and recycled a higher percentage of waste. We saw absolute increases in CO2, energy, and water, primarily driven by the inclusion of environmental data for ChoicePoint, a major acquisition in 2008, which increased the size of our property portfolio by 12%. When taking into account business growth in the year for all global operations within our operational control, we achieved reductions in all key environmental impact areas. Environmental and financial data covers a full calendar year.
Environmental debate
We have a positive environmental impact through our leading-edge environmental publications and services which spread good practice, encourage debate, and aid researchers and decision makers. The most recent results from independent Market Analysis System show our influence (share of citations in environmental science) represented 35% of the total market, and in energy and fuels 69% of the market (2008). Environmental content is a strong growth area for our business and between 2004 and 2008 we have produced 75% more papers on environmental topics (6,787 in 2004 vs 11,876 in 2008).
Some of our leading environmental publications include:
RE and Climate Change
We are committed to reducing the impact we have on climate by taking a range of proactive actions, including meeting our own reduction targets, understanding our carbon footprint in more depth, engaging with governments and other leading agencies, and harnessing our own expertise on the issue.
In 2009, our absolute gross CO2 emissions increased by 10%; 157,137 tCO2 in 2008 vs 173,425 tCO2 in 2009. On a like-for-like basis, without the ChoicePoint acquisition, we would have achieved an absolute reduction of 16% in Scope 1 and 2 emissions. There was an equivalent 5% decrease in the intensity ratio since 2008, and a 23% decrease since 2006.
Paper
We are founding members of the Publishers Database on Responsible Environmental Paper Sourcing (PREPS) to grade and assure sources of the paper we use. PREPS reviews and stores technical specifications of pulps and forest sources for paper, and awards grades of 1-5 stars for each based on sustainability criteria (with 5 being the highest).
By the close of 2009, 95% of RE papers by weight were on PREPS, of which 70% has been graded, all achieving three, four, or five stars. We have developed an RE Paper Policy that indicates we should buy paper starred three or above whenever possible.
2010 Objectives
- 20 key sites to achieve five Reed Elsevier Environmental Standards
- Management plans to achieve environmental targets
- Map Reed Elsevier and supplier water stress locations