Source: CSRwire – Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) moved closer to meeting its 2020 global citizenship goals with significant support from its 290,000 global team members and through a number of smart investments. The FedEx 2010 Global Citizenship Update, released today, showcases how smart collaboration and strategic investments can help connect the world in responsible and resourceful ways, while creating economic opportunity.
‘We have a commitment to people around the globe,’ said Frederick W. Smith, FedEx Corp. chairman, president and CEO, ‘a commitment to use resources responsibly, to expand our capabilities wisely and well, and to help people, businesses and communities thrive. Everyone at FedEx creates connections that change people’s lives for the better. FedEx team members’ actions speak just as loudly as the numbers that mark FedEx corporate responsibility progress.’
Environmental Initiatives
Team members at the FedEx Ground Desert district in the southwestern United States identify and segregate waste that can be used or recycled, generating 170,000 pounds of recycled materials over the past five years and reducing waste removal costs by 25 percent. What started as one team member’s idea became a district-wide initiative, and then became a key component of the new FedEx Ground-wide ‘Ground Green’ program that has already recycled more than 46 million pounds of materials.
In the Asia-Pacific region, hundreds of FedEx team members are participating in Eco-Driving, a program started by local leadership to reduce environmental impacts through changing daily driving habits. Team members give Eco-Driving seminars at the stations, invite the community to participate and put reminders on keychains and stickers in the trucks. Fuel efficiency has improved by five percent at the largest station in Japan.
The FedEx 2010 Global Citizenship Update demonstrates that it’s not just how team members drive but also where and what they are driving that can make a big difference in reducing fuel use. FedEx uses a complex technology called Route Optimization and Decision Support (ROADS) to plan on the front end, adapting routes daily and even advising package placement on the vehicle, helping team members make efficient decisions under the pressure of deadlines. Planning on the front end helps FedEx stations direct every delivery to its destination in the most efficient way.
Around the globe, FedEx is continually shifting to more-efficient vehicles and aircraft. FedEx is increasing its investment in all-electric and alternative drive train vehicles. By the end of FY11, FedEx will have increased its all-electric and hybrid-electric vehicle fleet by 20 percent to 410 vehicles in service across the globe, and is studying the all-electric fleet for further expansion. FedEx recently added six more 777F aircraft to its fleet, increasing the 777F FedEx fleet to 12. The 777F flies farther on less fuel while carrying more cargo than the MD-11s they replaced – it has 14,000 lbs of more cargo capacity but uses 18 percent less fuel and reduces emissions by 18 percent per ton of cargo. Based on current purchase commitments, FedEx plans to have 45 777Fs in service by 2020.
Other exciting environmental initiatives that FedEx undertook in 2010 include:
•    Using the Quality Driven Management (QDM) system to take 2,500 trailers off the road, saving 10 million gallons of gas.
•    Making LEED certification the standard for newly built U.S. FedEx Express facilities.
•    Generating more than 5 MW of energy annually from solar power installations at five locations and reducing annual carbon dioxide emissions by about 3,918 metric tons, the equivalent of more than 440,000 gallons of gasoline not burned.
•    Retrofitting 35 forklifts at a FedEx Freight facility in Springfield, Mo., with hydrogen fuel cells through collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy.
•    Building an improved paper recycling infrastructure for waste produced in-center at FedEx Office locations across North America, recycling more than 600 tons of paper in three months alone.
Philanthropic Outreach
FedEx seeks to maximize philanthropic impact as well. FedEx strategically allocated 1.5% of pre-tax profits to charity via in-kind shipping and cash in 2010. Leveraging what FedEx does best – transportation and logistics – FedEx actively supports disaster relief and preparedness through in-kind shipping of relief supplies for humanitarian agencies. FedEx also supports road safety programs around the globe. And FedEx supports education, valuing how important it is in building its own strong workforce. In 2010 these commitments came to life in a number of ways:
•    Exceeding the annual target in charitable shipping by almost twenty percent. With the earthquake in Haiti and the Gulf of Mexico oil spill topping the list, FedEx donated space for 5.2 million pounds of charitable shipping globally. This includes efforts such as FedEx Trade Networks teaming-up with Heart to Heart International to provide two cargo containers filled with donations of medical supplies, bottled water and beds for the Haiti relief effort. The cargo containers were then converted into school buildings for Haitian children.
•    Launching the Haiti Aid Map (www.haiti.ngoaidmap.org) with InterAction, the largest alliance of U.S.-based international nongovernmental organizations with a focus on the world’s most poor and vulnerable populations, and the Business Civic Leadership Center, an arm of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, to track hundreds of projects run by 78 different aid organizations in 139 communities to better understand how contributions were being allocated.
•    Continuing a decade-long investment, totaling $13.5 million in giving, to raising awareness about the importance of road safety and child pedestrian safety.
•    Providing in-kind shipping during the Gulf of Mexico oil spill to transport 25,000 endangered sea turtle eggs in motion- and temperature-controlled FedEx Custom Critical trucks to the Atlantic Coast for hatching and release.
More information about the accomplishments highlighted here and additional stories of how FedEx delivers on its commitment to be a responsible corporate citizen may be found in the online version of the FedEx 2010 Global Citizenship Update at csr.fedex.com.
About FedEx Sustainability
FedEx is committed to connecting the world responsibly and resourcefully. The Company sets long-term goals to reduce aircraft emissions intensity 20 percent by 2020, increase FedEx Express vehicle efficiency by 20 percent by 2020, and expand on-site renewable energy generation and procurement of renewable energy credits. FedEx works to achieve these ambitious goals through EarthSmart, a FedEx commitment to minimize our impact on the environment. EarthSmart is designed to encourage innovation that makes the business – the way it works and the services offered – more sustainable, both economically and environmentally. The FedEx commitment has been recognized through inclusion in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, a global list of the leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. FedEx has also placed in Boston College’s Reputation Institute 2010 CSR Index Top 50 Ranking and retained the U.S. EPA Green Power Partnership Printer’s List #1 Ranking.
About FedEx Corp.
FedEx Corp. (NYSE: FDX) provides customers and businesses worldwide with a broad portfolio of transportation, e-commerce and business services. With annual revenues of $39 billion, the company offers integrated business applications through operating companies competing collectively and managed collaboratively, under the respected FedEx brand. Consistently ranked among the world’s most admired and trusted employers, FedEx inspires its more than 290,000 team members to remain ‘absolutely, positively’ focused on safety, the highest ethical and professional standards and the needs of their customers and communities. For more information, visit news.fedex.com.
(Source: www.environmental-expert.com )