Environmental Information
We know that environmental issues are of great importance to teachers and children, and they're important to us too. That's why we put a lot of effort in to making environmentally sound choices in everything that we do. Here are a few of the things that we're doing to minimise our impact on the environment.
Waste
We take great care to make sure that our stock is sensibly managed and that we minimise waste in all our activity. Our wastage on promotional material is generally less than 5%, and waste material is recycled wherever practical.
Paper and printing
Our own printed material uses papers sourced from sustainably managed forests, certified to meet PEFC guidelines1. We use paper from mills who operate a certified chain-of-custody in accordance to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001. Most of our printers use vegetable-oil based inks.
Plastic
The plastic bags provided with our Book Clubs and Book Fairs are produced using d2w plastic, which is specially treated to be totally degradable2. Our Book Club mailings are now packaged in cardboard boxes, which are totally recyclable, rather than plastic shrinkwrap.
Transport
Most of our promotional material is sourced from suppliers the UK, which reduces transport costs and carbon emissions. Our Book Fairs transport team reduced fuel consumption by 50,438 litres and operated 580 fewer trucks in 2006-7 compared to 2005-6, while still delivering more Book Fairs. In accordance with European Law, as of March 2007 all our new trucks have an additive called AdBlue3 added to the fuel management systems to further reduce emissions.
Electrical equipment
In accordance with the UK's new Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations, we are contributors to the Government's new recycling initiative4.
Further reading:
1 See www.pefc.co.uk
2 See www.degradable.net