Reed Elsevier and its businesses have a direct impact on the environment, principally through the use of energy and water, the generation of waste, and business travel, and in our supply chain, through paper use, transportation and print and production technologies. We are committed to limiting this impact and continually improving our environmental performance.
In this section:
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In 2008, we achieved strong environmental results with absolute reductions in transport, water, paper and CO2 emissions, and larger reductions normalising the data to take account of business growth in the year.
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We believe it is important to set and achieve absolute environmental targets.
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We are guided in our efforts by the RE Environmental Management System (EMS), aligned with the ISO 14001 environmental standard.
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We have a positive environmental impact through our leading-edge environmental publications and services which spread good practice and encourage debate.
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In 2008, our total carbon emissions decreased 4%; 163,478 t/CO2 in 2007 vs 157,137 t/CO2 in 2008.
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Total energy usage increased by 1% from 234,485 MWh in 2007 to 237,842 MWh in 2008.
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Consumption of production paper decreased by 18% from 95,642 tonnes in 2007 to 78,662 in 2008.
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Our business travel is a significant contributor to our total emissions.
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Absolute water usage decreased 9% from 485,951 m3 in 2007 to 441,905 m3 in 2008, allowing us to exceed our five year, 10% reduction target.
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Of the 12,357 metric tonnes of waste we generated in 2008, 46% (5,684t) was recycled, compared with 43% in 2007.
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With over 45 Environmental Champions and 400 employees actively involved in RE Green Teams around the globe, employees are integral to RE environmental improvement.