2Sustain

Verizon announced today that it has launched a comprehensive sustainability program, including a series of new initiatives and an expansion of existing efforts.

For example, the company is:

• Adding 1,600 alternative energy vehicles to its fleet in 2010. Verizon is purchasing more than 1,100 alternative energy vehicles including hybrid and compressed natural gas-powered aerial trucks and vans, and hybrid pick-up trucks and sedans. The company will also increase its use of biodiesel and flex-fuel (E85) to power 470 vehicles. (Check out this YouTube video for more details about the benefits of hybrid aerial trucks and how they’re being used in New York.)

• Partnering with Motorola to trial eco-friendly set-top boxes for FiOS TV customers in select markets. The new QIP models use significantly less energy than existing models and the DVR model will boast increased digital video-recording storage capacity. Packaging for both models will be 100 percent recyclable and made from 75 percent recycled cardboard.

• Kicking off a long-term awareness campaign to educate, encourage and make it easy for Verizon’s 220,000 employees to cut energy use, recycle and reuse at work and home. Recent examples include free electronic recycling days, open to the public, at various company locations including the company’s Operations Center in Basking Ridge, N.J., (April 21) and its facility in Ashburn, Va. (April 21). All materials collected during the campaign will be recycled or disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner.

• Helping the utility sector ramp up smart grid deployment.  Verizon says its intelligent IP and wireless networks provide an ideal foundation for the smart grid’s control and metering functions.

Last year, Verizon’s aggressive energy reduction and recycling measures reduced the company’s CO2 emissions by more than 793 million pounds (which is approximately the amount of CO2 emitted by 46,700 homes in a year). The company also improved its rate of emissions per million dollars in revenue to 60.2 metric tons of CO2 in 2009 –that’s down from 64.4 metric tons in 2008.

More details about Verizon’s comprehensive corporate responsibility platform are available here.