Environment
With more than 189 million Yellow Pages directories being delivered to households and businesses across the UK, US and Spain in 2008, 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 52% recycled fibre content.
The remaining 48% 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, 99% of councils in the UK provide some form of recycling facilities for old Yellow Pages directories, of which 66% are kerbside collections.
Old directories are recycled into new products including animal bedding, cardboard, insulation materials and newsprint.
In 2007, 66% of UK households recycled their old directory.*
(*FDS International annual recycling survey)
Yellowbook works with Earth 911, an environmental information network, to promote the recycling of directories in local communities.
Working with our partners
Yellowbook works with our paper suppliers and our printer, Quebecor, to produce directories as close to the final market as possible and to use paper from the nearest available paper source. This allows us to reduce the miles from the paper plant to the printers and from the printers to the marketplace.
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.
In 2008, our UK offices used 11% less paper than in 2007.
In 2007, Yellowbook set up an internal initiative called YB Cares to focus on the day to day practices needed to support our environmental objectives. Through increased communications and awareness, we aim to decrease paper and plastic usage across our offices.
Climate change
This year, working with the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management we measured our CO2 emissions across the Group for the first time. The results will help us to identify opportunities and realise carbon reduction going forward. Under the reporting requirements of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, our ‘scope 1’ and ‘scope 2’ emissions, covering emissions from combustion onsite and imported energy, are 25,901 tonnes for Yell Group.
As a result of changing our energy supplier in 2007, 72% of all electricity we use in the UK comes from renewable sources.
We have reported all our CO2 measurements in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), details of which can be found at www.cdproject.net.
