Carbon footprint / Energy conservation

Corporate Policy and Procedure

In 2007, we established our baseline carbon footprint following the World Resources Institute protocol and published the Pitney Bowes Corporate Technical Standard on Carbon Management. This document established the requirements for the creation of a carbon management programme to address climate change. At a high level, this document established energy consumption and conservation measures and public reporting of the Pitney Bowes carbon footprint. Based on third-party feedback through our validation process we continue to provide guidance for our lines of business, laying out enterprise-wide energy consumption data collection standards, outlining roles and responsibilities for each business, and establishing the tool to be used to collect and report the data to the corporation.

Revised Baseline

In 2014 we revised the baseline to account for the sale of Pitney Bowes Management Services. We publicly report our carbon footprint through the international Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP™) and participate in both the Investors and Supply Chain Surveys.

For the seventh year, our protocol for the collection and reporting of global carbon emissions has received third-party validation following an extensive review. Our verification includes a review of Scope 1 (direct fossil fuel emissions), Scope 2 (electricity consumption) and Scope 3 (carbon emissions due to business air travel).

Carbon Disclosure and Performance

Our ongoing efforts in site consolidation and implementation of energy-efficient equipment and protocols continue to pay dividends in reducing both our energy costs and our overall carbon footprint. We achieved our 2017 energy reduction target (5 years, 15%) by the end of 2014, and set a new target of a further 8% carbon reduction over the next five years.

A List and Climate Disclosure Leadership Index

In November 2015, our emissions reduction efforts were recognised by the international Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). Our 2015 disclosure earned us a score of 99 and placement on the CDP Climate Disclosure Leadership Index. In addition, our overall performance earned us a place on the CDP A List, which honours the top 5% of all companies disclosing carbon emissions in both the Investors and Supply Chain Surveys. CAN USE CDP A LIST AND CDLI LOGOS HERE

Renewable Energy

We are a founding member of the Green Power Market Development Group, an industry partnership with the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to promote the development and purchase of alternative energy. Since 2003 we have purchased renewable energy credits (RECs) to support green power projects using technologies such as solar, wind and biomass. So far, our RECs have resulted in more than 54,096 metric tonnes of CO2 emission reductions. In 2015, our purchases of Green-e® certified RECs helped reduce CO2 by 19,876 metric tonnes, an offset of approximately X 42% of our global scope 2 emissions.

Reducing Energy Consumption

We are committed to making all our operations greener and more efficient. Our cross-functional Energy Task Force has raised employee awareness about energy conservation and led to significant reductions in energy consumption. Up until the end of 2015 we reduced our electricity consumption by more than 28.4 million kilowatt hours from our 2007 baseline, saving $3.97 million and reducing our carbon footprint by 13,885 metric tonnes of CO2. Energy-saving initiatives have included more efficient roof-top air conditioning units, on-demand-only conveyor system upgrades, increased efficiency air compressors and site consolidations.

In 2015, the company continued to focus on site consolidation as part of its strategic transformation initiative. Over the last five years, these efforts have enabled Pitney Bowes to reduce related energy consumption by more than 18 million kilowatt hours of electricity, resulting in a reduction of over 7400 metric tonnes of carbon emissions.

Minimising Waste from Operations

Since 1996 Pitney Bowes has taken part in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s WasteWise Initiative, a voluntary programme to minimise the generation of wastes, increase recycling and promote the manufacture and purchase of products with recycled content. Over the years we have received nine awards from the EPA, including designation as Program Champion and Partner of the Year. In 2007, we were named to the WasteWise Hall of Fame for our leadership in recycling, and we work hard to sustain our position in the Hall of Fame. Only 15 other companies share this honour.

Our US waste reduction campaign resulted in the avoidance of more than 11,800 metric tonnes equivalent of CO2 (MTCO2E) in 2015. Since 2004, we have avoided 223,000 MTCO2E, equivalent to the effect of removing more than 3700 cars from the road.

Minimising Electronic Waste

Waste from electronic products (e-waste) poses a global threat to soil and water quality. According to United Nations estimates, between 20 and 50 million tonnes of e-waste are generated worldwide each year. Within the US, e-waste now accounts for 80% of the country’s toxic garbage and 70% of the heavy metals in landfills. To support the EPA’s effort to combat the growth of e-waste, our policy is to recycle all electronics that are not remanufactured. Materials captured through recycling (plastics, steel, aluminium, copper, etc.) are then available for use in a variety of industries. Our selection of a recycling vendor was based in part on the firm’s guarantee that all e-waste would be broken down for reuse and no e-waste would be sent overseas. We verify the firm’s performance through audits and compliance checks as well as the tracking of waste quantities. In 2015, 2,553 tonnes of US electronics waste was recycled.

Agile Work

Our five-year-old agile work programme continues to drive down greenhouse gas emissions while enabling employees to reduce their commuting time and gain flexibility in determining where and how they work. In 2015, our US agile or mobile employees saved a total of 388,759 hours in travel time and 654,313 gallons of petrol, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 8.6 million pounds. Since the programme began, it has enabled us to reduce these emissions by approximately 39 million pounds.

Last year we extended the programme to the UK. Preliminary first-year results include eliminating approximately 650,000 commuter miles and reducing carbon emissions by 128 metric tonnes of CO2.