Alcatel-Lucent released its 2008 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
report, posting it on the company's web site rather than printing thousands of
paper copies. Alcatel-Lucent also is taking this virtually paperless approach
with its 2008 financial report as one step to help the company reach its
aggressive goal of cutting its 2008 carbon emissions in half by 2020.
The CSR report is a comprehensive review of the company's goals and
achievements in meeting its obligations to operate as a responsible and involved
corporate citizen in the communities around the world where its employees and
customers live and work. The report includes detailed descriptions of its
actions through 2008, a month-by-month timeline of the activities undertaken
throughout the year to support CSR initiatives and the goals it is setting for
itself for future years.
The report highlights actions taken in five areas, reducing the impact of
Alcatel-Lucent products on the environment and enabling the deployment of
eco-sustainable networks for its service providers and enterprise customers;
minimizing the company's carbon footprint and improving its overall
environmental, health and safety performance for more efficient and
eco-sustainable operations; fostering a corporate culture that opens up
opportunities for employees; working with suppliers to create a socially
responsible supply chain and; ecoming involved in the communities where
Alcatel-Lucent employees and customers live and work.
Alcatel-Lucent has a long history of commitment to eco-efficient operations.
In 2008 the company measured its CO2 emissions and committed to reducing its
current global annual output of about one million metric tons of CO2 emissions
by half by 2020. To reduce energy use it is improving insulation in its
buildings, installing more energy-efficient lighting, consolidating facilities
where possible, initiating waste recycling programs and minimizing the need for
travel by enhancing the company's videoconferencing capabilities at many of its
facilities. By eliminating the mass printing of the CSR and financial annual
reports this year, the company will avoid using 748,000 sheets of paper, the
equivalent of a stack as high as a 40-story building. Responsible management of
hazardous and electronic waste is a keystone of Alcatel-Lucent's commitment to
protecting the environment and the health and safety of employees, customers and
communities. In the US, the company was honored by the US Environmental
Protection Agency for recycling customers' lead-acid batteries and preventing 1
million kilograms of hazardous materials from entering the nation's waste
stream.