2Sustain

Late last month, UPS released its sixth annual Corporate Sustainability Report.

UPS, the
world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain
and freight services, employs some 425,000 people, and its operations include
planes, ships, vehicles, facilities, call centers, data centers, retail stores,
and more. “We recognize that our presence is large and our responsibility is
great,” UPS says on its website
) and back in 2002, the company became a transportation industry pioneer by
outlining its CSR goals and strategies.

In this
year’s 130-page report, 42 pages are devoted exclusively to environmental concerns, and there are lots of details about the company’s initiatives to reduce GHG
emissions, decrease its dependency on fossil fuels, and otherwise minimize its
environmental footprint. The list includes:

• deployment
  of alternative-fuel fleets
• conservation
  of fuel and energy through facility design, operational practices, renewable
  energy, and retrofitting
• reduction in
  aircraft fuel use, emissions, and noise
• shipment
  consolidation
• recycling
  and waste management (including electronic equipment recycling, and water
  consumption and conservation)
• environmental
  management systems (regulatory and waste minimization systems)
• employee
  engagement

By using
innovative Package Flow Technology, UPS reports that it reduced CO2 emissions
by 32,000 metric tons and saved 3 million gallons of fuel in 2007. But, even
so, total energy consumption across the company increased 1.3%. In addition, energy
consumption per package increased 1.2% last year –something UPS attributes to
time in transit and an up tick in residential deliveries (due to online
commerce). The report states that UPS continues to look for operational
strategies to help conserve both energy and fuel, and in my mind, it’s this
commitment to transparency and annual reporting that will keep UPS on the right
track.

Think about
it, here’s a company that can have a profound impact on the way businesses world-wide
cope with climate change. Naturally, UPS itself has a supply chain that it’s
working hard to green. But, at the same time, UPS is also a critical component
of its customers’ supply chains. With nearly 8 million customers daily in more
than 200 countries and territories, UPS is poised to be a key player in greener
global trade.

Paging
through the 2007 UPS Corporate Sustainability Report, UPS seems to be a company
that clearly recognizes both its role –and its responsibility –in the development
of supply chains that are environmentally sound and sustainable. For more
discussion about the UPS Corporate Sustainability Report

Check out this article:

http://www.environmentalleader.com/2008/09/01/ups-energy-consumption-per-package-increases/