Environment
With nearly 180 million Yellow Pages directories being delivered to households and businesses across the UK, US and Spain in the financial year 2009, our biggest environmental commitment is to manage the impact of our printed directory.
Managing our environmental impact
In the US, our directories are made from a low-weight paper (either 34 or 36gsm depending on the paper supplier) which includes recycled fibre as well as other saw mill waste products.
Our directories in the UK are made from a low-weight paper (34 gsm) which includes 54% recycled fibre content.
The remaining 46% is virgin fibre which comes from sustainably-managed forests in Finland. The supplying mill has PEFC certification, which ensures all virgin fibres come from legal, sustainable and non-controversial sources.
Directory recycling
Since 1993 we have worked with local authorities throughout the UK to help them to increase the number of old Yellow Pages directories which are recycled.
Currently, almost 100% of councils in the UK provide some form of recycling facilities for old Yellow Pages directories, of which 96% are kerbside collections.
Old directories are recycled into new products including animal bedding, cardboard, insulation materials and newsprint.
In 2008, 72% of UK households recycled their old directory.*
(*FDS International annual recycling survey)
Yellowbook works hard to improve and promote recycling through its partnerships with organizations across the country, and partners with GreenFiber, a manufacturer of insulation products made from recycled materials including old directories.
Managing the resources in our offices
Yell UK has been registered to the environmental standard ISO 14001 since 1998, and in 2007 Yell Publicidad Spain also became accredited. Our environment policies for all our operations show our commitment to reducing, re-using and recycling resources throughout our operations.
Climate change
Yell is in the media sector and is classified as a low impact company with regards to climate change. Working with the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management (ECCM), we have measured our CO2 emissions across our operations in the UK, US and Spain. This year we have also established measurement for our operations in Peru, Argentina and Chile. In 2008 our Group CO2 emissions were 330,216 tonnes. Over the last ten years we have reduced our total CO2 operational emissions in the UK by 44% (against 1999 baseline data). Directory production has increased by 4% over the same period.
Looking forward, we aim to further reduce our Group emissions by 10% over the next three years.
We have reported all our CO2 measurements in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), details of which can be found at www.cdproject.net.
"Our aim is to strike a balance between the quality of the paper and the impact on the environment"
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