Natural Environment
Management Approach
Unless otherwise noted, the information in this report regarding Natural Environment programs and planning pertains to our U.S. Operations.
The OfficeMax Code of Business Conduct and Ethics requires that we conduct our business in strict accordance with all applicable U.S. state and federal laws and regulations, as well as with all OfficeMax corporate policies and best practices regarding the protection of the environment. To help ensure that the Code is enforced, and to set the foundation for reducing our overall environmental footprint beyond that which is required by law, we have developed two important internal policies: the companywide OfficeMax Environmental Policy and the OfficeMax U.S. Paper Procurement Policy.
A number of associates address environmental concerns within the company. These include the director, Environmental Practices, and representatives from our Legal, Operations, Strategic Sourcing, and Transportation functions.
As a distributor of office products that is not directly involved in manufacturing, OfficeMax’s primary opportunities for managing our environmental impacts are in the areas of product stewardship, facility energy management and transportation. Each of these is discussed in their applicable sections.
Grand & Toy, our wholly owned, independently operated subsidiary headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada has recently established a Sustainability Vision that aligns with OfficeMax’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts. Comprising the Sustainability Vision is a seven-pillar sustainability platform, the first three of which directly address environmental issues. These include the following:
• Environmental Footprint – Minimize our own environmental impact through supply chain, packaging, recycling and waste, and facilities footprint.
• Product Stewardship – Develop the most successful line of environmentally responsible products and services offerings on the market.
• Sustainable/Ethical Sourcing – As a change agent, accelerate the market penetration of environmentally preferred, more sustainable paper products; embed corporate responsibility practices in our supply chain.
In 2008, OfficeMax New Zealand was awarded the Enviro-Mark NZ Diamond certification by Landcare Research, a New Zealand Government agency. This award represents the highest level of recognition for a continuing commitment to environmental sustainability. OfficeMax is the first office products company and one of only eleven companies in New Zealand to receive this prestigious award.
Natural environment: highlights 2008
• In 2008, our U.S. Operations reduced CO2 emissions by 10 percent, while opening a net 32 stores.
• In 2008, we increased the number of recycled-content products in our Maxi catalog by 15 percent.
• In 2008, we increased the number of business papers sold containing at least 30 percent post-consumer fiber by 28 percent.
Managing our Carbon Footprint
Because we are not an energy intensive business, our direct risks associated with climate change are moderate to low. However, we are still very mindful of our carbon footprint, which we define as the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases emitted by our operations.
Our direct carbon footprint is derived from the total electricity, natural gas, gasoline, diesel fuel, and bio-diesel fuel we use on an annual basis. Potential associated business risks may include the costs and availability of these fuels, potential regulatory carbon caps or taxes, and the general effects climate change may have on local, regional and global economies.
In recent years, OfficeMax has made a concerted effort to reduce our carbon footprint through facility energy management and transportation initiatives. In 2008, our U.S. Operations reduced its total amount of CO2 emitted from 2007 levels by more than 44,000 metric tons, despite opening 32 new stores (see Company Structure, Markets and Brands for more information on store opening and closures).
Additionally, our participation in the World Resource Institute Business Climate Change Collaborative in 2008 provided us opportunities to share best practices and solutions with a diverse set of peers.
Areas of Minimal Impact
Due to the nature of our business, there are a number of G3 indicators on which we do not report because of our negligible environmental impact in these areas. These include the following:
• Biodiversity. To our knowledge, none of our facilities are on or adjacent to land of high biodiversity value. And, with the possible exception of our purchased paper products as addressed in our U.S. Paper Procurement Policy, we are not aware of any direct significant impacts to biodiversity from our products or services.
• Ozone-depleting Substances. OfficeMax produces no ozone-depleting substances. Any such substances that may be used by OfficeMax facilities generally would be contained within facility cooling units that are serviced by trained and certified technicians. All service is done in accordance with U.S. federal, state and local laws and regulations, to prevent the loss of ozone depleting chemicals from these appliances.
• Hazardous Waste. OfficeMax's facilities generally are considered conditionally exempt from regulation as hazardous waste generators because they generate very low volumes and weights of hazardous waste. As a rule, most of the waste materials that could be classified as hazardous waste are recycled and not disposed. To our knowledge, no hazardous waste was shipped internationally in 2008.
• Water Usage and Discharge. While OfficeMax recognizes that clean, fresh water is becoming increasingly scarce in certain regions, our water usage is minimal compared to manufacturing industries. Our main usage is in sanitary, plumbing and cleaning applications. Only storm water runoff and domestic wastewater are discharged from our facilities; no industrial process water is discharged. Storm water is discharged from relatively small areas and generally is mixed with the storm water from many other commercial properties. Domestic wastewater is discharged to wastewater treatment plants. To our knowledge, our discharges of domestic wastewater and storm water runoff do not significantly affect any water bodies or their related habitats.