IBM and the Environment 2008 Annual Report now available

10 Jul 2009 -- The IBM and the Environment 2008 Annual Report, which includes detailed information about its environmental programs, initiatives and performance, is now available.

IBM has a long history of environmental leadership. The company's corporate policy on environmental protection, first established in 1971, is supported by a comprehensive global environmental management system that governs its operations worldwide.

From how the company runs its operations to the products and solutions it provides to clients, IBM is committed to leadership across environmental areas ranging from energy efficiency and water conservation to pollution prevention and product stewardship.

Here are some highlights from the latest report:

• Between 1990 and 2008, IBM's annual conservation actions saved a sum total of 4.9 billion kWh of electricity consumption, avoided nearly 3.3 million metric tons of CO2 emissions (equal to 48% of the company's 1990 global CO2 emissions) and saved over $343 million in energy expense.
• IBM's total hazardous waste has decreased by 96.3% since 1987, the base year of this metric.
• IBM has reduced its total U.S. Toxic Release Inventory chemical quantities worldwide by 88.1% since 1993, the base year of this metric.
• Since 1995, when IBM first began reporting volumes of product waste it collected and recovered in the company's annual corporate environmental report, IBM has documented the collection and recovery of more than 1.6 billion pounds (729,179 metric tons) of product and product waste worldwide through year-end 2008. In 2008, IBM's product end-of-life management operations reused or recycled 96.9% of the total processed and sent less than 1% to landfills or to incineration for treatment.

The company's annual corporate environmental reporting first began in 1990 and has continued each year since.

For more, please see the IBM and the Environment 2008 Annual Report.