June 12, 2007

Best Buy Releases Corporate Responsibility Report

Best Buy has released its 2007 corporate responsibility report (PDF) and unveiled a new corporate responsibility Web site.

In total, through Best Buy’s combined programs, U.S. consumers recycled more than 30,000 tons of e-waste (appliances and consumer electronics) in fiscal 2007.

According to the report, central energy management systems for lighting, heating and cooling equipment have reduced Best Buy’s annual electric use in U.S. stores by approximately 85 million kilowatts - although it’s not clear when these systems were put in place.

The report also throws out a hypothetical, saying that “Most people in our stores -? customers, employees -? likely wouldn’t notice if the store temperature increased by one degree. However, that one degree increase on our thermostats would save over 11 million kilowatt hours of energy and close to $1,000,000 annually in energy costs for our
U.S. stores.” Strangely, the report doesn’t say that this is actually someing Best Buy is going to do.

Here are a few of Best Buy’s environmental goals for 2008:

• Have all new U.S. store openings LEED certified through the Green Building Council,
• Improve light loads by 15 percent,
• Increase the use of reusable containers for shipping store and service products by 30 percent,
• Use ceramic metal halide with dimmable lighting by zones in all new stores to reduce lighting costs by 20 percent, and
• Recycle 75,000 tons of cardboard, 1,800 tons of plastic, 15,000 tons of consumer electronics, and 27,500 tons of appliances.

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