Natural Environment
Transportation
As a company whose U.S. Operations logged over 11.6 million miles in 2008 (representing a 35 percent reduction from 2007), OfficeMax has ample opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint, overall environmental impact, and energy costs through better transportation and fuel management. To date, we have accomplished this by revamping our approach to delivery scheduling and logistics, and by increasing the amount of bio-diesel fuels we purchase for our Contract business segment fleet.
In 2008, we continued working with our fleet vendor partners to achieve the following:
• Operate diesel engines in compliance with USEPA standards mandated in 2007 to reduce emissions of particulate matter by 90 percent.
• Operate our fleet on diesel fuel with ultra low sulfur content.
• Comply with idling laws to further cut emissions and fuel consumption.
• Equip vehicles with engine governors to cap speeds at 65 miles per hour to reduce fuel consumption.
• Conduct environmental audits.
• Utilize double-walled fuel tanks to prevent corrosion and leaks. Employ lubricant and oil recycling in vehicle maintenance facilities.
• Employ fleet maintenance procedures that comply with USEPA standards for air emissions, wastewater, waste stream management, fuel storage, spill prevention, reporting, and hazmat management processes.
• Conduct test pilots of hybrid diesel/electric medium-duty trucks for potential introduction into OfficeMax fleet, to achieve 25-35 percent better fuel economy, reduce emissions, and cut costs associated with vehicle maintenance.
In 2008, we reduced our overall fuel usage by 12.5 percent from 2007 levels. While this reduction fell short of the 15 percent reduction goal we set in 2007, it did decrease our direct emissions of the following gases by the following percentages: CO2 emissions by 19.7 percent, SOx by 30 percent and NOx by 24 percent. Also, due to consolidation of facilities and an overall reduction of the number of vehicles in our fleet and vendor network, we limited our sourcing options for bio-diesel fuel. Therefore, we increased bio-diesel fuel usage by 5 percent rather than our stated goal of 15 percent.
Scheduling and Logistics Changes Contribute to Reduction in CO2 Emissions
Our U.S. Operations transportation system underwent significant changes and refinements in 2008 that substantially reduced the number of miles traveled by our fleet and delivery vendor network. Miles traveled by our Contract business segment fleet dropped 13 percent, from approximately 10.6 million miles in 2007 to 9.2 million miles in 2008. Our “store fulfillment miles,” representing deliveries from our distribution centers to our retail stores, also dropped by 13 percent, from approximately 29 million miles in 2007 to 25 million miles in 2008.
These travel reductions, as well as improved facility energy management and other factors, contributed to a decrease of more than 10 percent in the amount of CO2 emitted by our U.S. Operations in 2008.
Some of the transportation changes introduced in 2008 included the following:
• Reduction of our retail store and Impress fleet vehicles and better leveraging of our fleet and our third-party delivery vendor to provide delivery service to OfficeMax customers.
• Initiated "managed delivery" in the Contract business segment, a structured program designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce fuel consumption, and leverage fleet utilization. Managed delivery consists of the following three delivery frequency initiatives:
- Green Mondays – Eliminating Monday deliveries, with OfficeMax delivery drivers switching to a four-day, 10-hour shift, Tuesday through Friday.
- Pie Approach – Defining five zip code regions within the delivery service area and rotating Monday through Friday delivery frequency in these defined regions,
- Zoned Deliveries – Delivering to designated zip codes on select days of the week.
Our U.S. Operations and our Canadian subsidiary, Grand & Toy, continue to communicate to our customers ways in which they can indirectly reduce their own carbon footprint by helping us reduce our fuel consumption and therefore, our carbon footprint. For example, we encourage them to consolidate multiple small orders into larger single orders to cut back on the number of deliveries required to service their needs.
Alternative Fuels
At OfficeMax, we are sensitive to the fact that decisions made to advance one aspect of societal good may sometimes have unintended trade-offs. The recent surge by industry in the consumption of bio-diesel fuel, to reduce harmful emissions and preserve non-renewable resources, has been linked by some to higher crop prices and, by extension, higher food costs. Bio-diesel is a non-petroleum-based diesel fuel made from vegetable oils.
Taking into consideration the many environmental and human health benefits of bio-diesel fuel, OfficeMax has made it a priority for our transportation strategy. In 2008, our use of bio-diesel increased 5 percent over 2007 levels.
The benefits of bio-diesel fuel over petroleum-based diesel include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Lower CO2 emissions across the lifecycle of the fuel from production to consumption.
• Lower smog-forming potential.
• Virtual elimination of sulfur emissions, which contribute to acid rain
• Lower carbon monoxide emissions, which is a poisonous gas.
• Lower particulate matter emissions, which has been shown to be a human breathing hazard.