OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Packaging waste sent to our customers and received from our suppliers is a volume environmental aspect for Lyreco. We are fortunate that the majority of packaging is cardboard and shrinkwrap both of which are readily recyclable and have a value in the recyclates market.

In 2011 we are targeting a reduction of packaging to our customers through introduction of new style packaging in both of our National Distribution Centre's.

In Ireland our padded envelope orders will now be packaged in biodegradable plastic bags. The bags remain a secure as padded bags but weigh significantly less and are easier to dispose of since they will biodegrade.

In the UK we will introduce the super-eco box, which is made differently and as a result saves 60 grams of packaging per box shipped.

All transit packaging with the Lyreco logo is 100% recycled and recyclable. Furthermore our boxes are cut down before leaving site through our machinery which results in an average reduction of 22% less cardboard sent to the customer.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Detailed information on a product’s safety attributes is just a click
away as Lyreco now makes all COSHH available for any relevant
product via our online ordering tool, OLO.

• The COSHH is a form that details the properties of the product supplied including physical data such as flash point or melting point, plus health effects, first aid and how to react in case of an emergency.
   
• The COSHH enables businesses to inform their employees of how to use and store a product safely within the working environment. It forms part of Health & Safety and Environmental considerations.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

No matter what level sustainable procurement is at on our customers agenda, we want to provide them with products that are suited to their needs. We now have a range of over 700 Common Range international products that have a sustainable credential and there are more products selected within the UK which complement this Common Range - totalling 1145 products in the UK and Ireland.

Our Product Management teams, at both group and local levels, review the ranges every year, working hard to ensure that if an environmental alternative is available, at the right price, it will be added to the range. And where it makes sense, we are actively looking to switch from regular to the environmentally preferable products.

The range of credentials covered is:

Our Quality, Security and Environmental team continue to ensure that we meet legislative requirements, both in normal use of product and at end of life. The products we supply, do not have environmental impacts directly attributable to Lyreco, but as a distributor and retailer we do have to manage the impact of any that fall under the scope of applicable legislation, such as Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and batteries.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Currently Lyreco identifies products with sustainable credentials under the ‘umbrella’  logo of a tree.

The aim is to assist customers to quickly identify which products may suit their sustainability agenda. Going forward, Lyreco has worked to gather data from suppliers which will allow us to classify products more concretely by adhering to the recommendations of the recognised level of ISO14021. 

This particular international standard is defined for ‘self-claims’ on products and gives definitions on key sustainable terms, such as Recycled, Biodegradable, Long-Life, etc. At its core is the principle that such products must be “environmentally preferable”.

In the future, all products with a sustainable credential will fall under the umbrella logo of the tree, and be able to be sub-categorised through the electronic ordering system (OLO) with the detailed credentials. 

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Wherever possible our supply chain need to adopt our stance on reducing waste. We have asked our suppliers to replace stretch film with banding on pallets of cardboard transit boxes that we purchase.


After several tests in France and Belgium, this process began on 1st July 2010, with the first suppliers.

This initiative is now live in the UK.



                                           The benefits are:

• Less plastic film which is a waste reduction - and a contribution towards our environmental approach
• No time spent on unwrapping pallets and ensure disposal of the waste

More than 50% of deliveries are sent to our customers with no
additional packaging, meaning less cardboard for customers to dispose of.

We take the goods exactly as our suppliers send them to us, ensure that they are robust
enough to withstand palletisation and then apply a delivery address label.

An area of our warehouse is dedicated to voluminous and 'prepack' items. This helps to 
ensure that only items which need to be packaged for delivery are picked from our 'detail'
area.

We never add filling to our transit boxes as the boxes used are selected around the volume
of the order and then cut to size.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Transit packaging is needed for "detail" orders which are orders containing a number of small items which could not be transported alone. Our system automatically selects the smallest possible box to fit all items.

In the UK, Lyreco's packaging technology will provide benefits in reducing the boxes down to a manageable size before fitting the lid.

When Lyreco introduced its box-cutting technology it reduced packaging sent to customers by an average of 22% based on the box size that would have been sent.

All transit packaging is 100% recycled cardboard and is recyclable.

Recent changes to the management system that glues together the boxes and sticks the lids into place have reduced glue consumption by 47% and 15 tonnes per year. This innovation from a Building Services Engineer came about when he altered the glue pattern from a continuous line to a stitch. This means that customers also receive less glue on their packaging, whilst Lyreco have reduced their packaging impact as a result of a simple fix.

 

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

We are not a hugely complex business when it comes to environmental impacts but one of the volume impacts is carbon emissions from the fuel and energy that we use.


We use fuel and cause air pollution through our fleet of distribution vehicles and sales force cars. Our two national distribution centres in the UK and Ireland consume energy through their lighting, heating and conveyor systems. Finally we have offices and regional distribution centres all of which are using energy in their day to day running. We have a long standing commitment with past initiatives ranging from introduction of double deck trailers through to lighting sensors in our offices.

In 2011 we have targeted a reduction of 250 tonnes vs our 2010 carbon footprint.

Since 2008 we have achieved an average 1000 tonne reduction of CO2 per year.


The most noteable reduction in scope 2 GHG (Green House Gas) emissions came in 2009 when we optimised the building management system to zone lighting for the Telford NDC. We also installed light sensors to gauge lux levels, meaning that on our brighter weather days the lights are switched off automatically and the warehouse can be run without lighting thanks to clear lighting panels in the roof.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

One of the main impacts Lyreco has on the environment is the amount of carbon emissions created whilst delivering to our customers in our extensive fleet of vehicles.

Lyreco has always demonstrated a commitment to having vehicles on our fleet which have the latest engine technology; reducing our fuel consumption at each opportunity. Currently, any Euro III engines will be replaced with Euro Vs, but the majority of the fleet is now Euro IV, with stop/start devices fitted. These devices enable a shut off of the engine when idling at traffic lights or in jams, reducing the amount of fuel used and emissions produced.

The next step is to evaluate the routes driven in an effort to reduce mileage. We are currently assessing the efficiency of vehicle routing software by comparing the miles driven on certain routes to that which the system proposes. Should this test be successful, we will take a further step and do on-board trials with the objective of rolling out the system across the whole Group.




With the successful launch of two zero emission vehicles for deliveries in the London area, we are looking for ways to repeat the experience in the main European cities.


The objective is to reduce both noise and emissions in residential and bulit up areas.

At the same time, we are also investigating other technologies to make sure that we choose the most relevant transport within our sustainable procurement policy.






How can we reduce the impact
of our cars and vans on the environment?

• Eco Driving makes drivers consider the way they drive and take basic steps to reduce fuel consumption and pollution. SMART driving is an email campaign targeted at our sales force to remind them on a regular basis to drive in the eco friendly way, again driving environmental and cost efficiencies at the same time.
   
• Eco Driving improves the safety of our people by reducing the number of accidents.
   
• In 2010, Eco Driving were added to the Group Delivery Best Practices to involve all Lyreco’s subsidiaries.

Car Fleet

• Recent changes to our car fleet has seen significant reductions in the carbon footprint of our sales people.
   
• In January 2010 if our entire fleet of sales peoples vehicles had driven one hundred kilometres they would have produced 7.46 tonnes of CO2. In January 2011 the new fleet of vehicles travelling the same distance would produce 6.7 tonnes of CO2. A reduction of 0.76 tonnes of CO2.
   
• All vehicles in our fleet now produce less than 160grams of CO2 per kilometre.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

One of the main impacts Lyreco has on the enivronment is the amount of carbon emissions created in using gas and electricity across our 22 sites.

Lyreco's UK Head Office and National Distribution Centre was the first site to be purpose built within the Lyreco Group.

Even though ten years old, consideration for the environment was given at the time, ensuring that offices have lighting sensors to switch off lights when there is a period without movement in the room; the car parks are built with petrol interceptors; clear lighting panels in the warehouse ceiling to allow maximum daylight and so on.

Changes in technology now mean that we are able to consider upgrading many of the features within our building that use energy. A significant energy saving was made in 2009 with changes to our NDC lamping; The National Distribution Centre in Telford now contains just short of 1000 lamps which were in use many hours of the day, due to the nature of our operation.

Through our Building Services Team we were able to introduce zoned lighting, where lamps were divided into banks and subject to need could be switched alternately. A new lux meter was also installed internally, switching the lighting on and off according to internal lighting levels.



These changes, combined with absolute switch off during non-operational hours from 2.00am to 6.00am, resulted in an annual reduction of electricity by 1.6million MWh in 2009 - and a reduction of 862 tonnes of C02. Our next phase will involve changes to the type of lamps and fittings, further reducing consumption before investigation on renewable energies.

Our Dublin site and regional distribution centres are all challenged to reduce their energy consumption by keeping lights switched off, doors closed and heating to the minimum wherever possible. We also undertake to buy energy efficient equipment when the need arises; including everything from flat screen monitors to energy rated gas boilers.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Our national distribution centres in UK and Ireland where we centrally store, pick and ship our products from create waste. This waste is generally transit packaging from our suppliers and paper used internally within our picking operation. Lyreco is incredibly proud of its long standing reduction programme on waste to landfill through segregation and recycling.

In 2010, 86% of the total waste produced by Lyreco in the UK was recycled - a staggering 953 tonnes.


Our new target is to reduce waste to landfill to zero on our Telford and Dublin sites by December 2012.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

The batteries directive went live in the UK in 2010. In order to fulfil our obligation
as a distributer of portable batteries and to provide a recycling service for our
customers, Lyreco teamed up with ERP (European Recyling Platform) to deliver a service.

The commitments taken by our recycling partners are as follows:

• Agreement towards the Lyreco Supplier Code of Ethics.
• Respect and full application of the legal and environmental aspects in terms of recycling services and processes.
• Provision of waste documentation for Lyreco and/or its customers on request.

In order to help our customers to deal with office waste that
can be recycled, Lyreco has offered a free waste recycling service
for some years, dealing with toner cartridges and inkjets.

The commitments taken by our recycling partners are as follows:

• Agreement towards the Lyreco Supplier Code of Ethics.
• Respect and full application of the legal and environmental aspects in terms of recycling services and processes.
• Provision of full waste documentation for our customers on request to ensure legal compliance.
• Provision of detailed reporting data about volume of waste recycled for Lyreco.

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

Waste segregation and recycling are no longer optional. Not only are there environmental benefits in the re-use of certain wastes there can also be significant financial efficiencies too. Lyreco has provided waste stations to segregate waste streams for many years and we use the stamp out waste logo to remind all employees of the requirements.

Through 2011 Lyreco is reviewing options to reduce waste at the front end. This involves contacting suppliers to change the methods in which they package products they send to us. At the other end of the waste hierarchy we are finding new partners to recycle wastes such as pallet banding which until now have not been recyclable. This will assist us in hitting our zero waste to landfill target.

Lyreco's key areas of waste management are as follows:

• Distribution Centres with cardboard boxes, plastic pallet wrap and pine-wood pallets
• Building Maintenance with the disposal of fluorescent tubing used in office areas and distribution centre levels
• Computer Hardware with obsolete equipment
• General business activities in head office areas – kitchen waste, used paper, disposal of other materials including plastics

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIONS