Defense Contractor Raytheon Salutes Sustainability

It feels like every morning the news is discussing a brand new technological advance - e-readers and tablets and apps, oh my! (Also--Google's driverless car, anyone?) And that's really just the beginning of it all. Luckily for us, not only are technology researchers and conglomerates making the some of the most cutting-edge gizmos available to consumers, but, more and more often, they are revealing their energy consumption and environmental impact numbers as well. Well, American defense contractor Raytheon Company is no exception, as it released its Responsibility Report for 2011, which highly emphasizes the defense technology company's salute to sustainability.

Having already made a name for itself as a pacesetter of ethics and diversity and one of the greater Boston area's most socially responsible companies, it doesn't come as too much of a surprise that the military tech whiz's achievements for 2011 include the following:

• The creation of a formalized sustainability governance structure, the Executive Advisory Council, composed of senior leadership officials in charge of developing and integrating new sustainability strategies, initiatives, and programs.


• Significant reduction in GHG emissions since joining the EPA's Climate Leaders Program in 2002 and exceeding its10% GHG reduction goal four years ahead of schedule (Raytheon reduced emissions by 16% from its 2008 baseline).


• Reduction in energy consumption by 9% and costs by $17 million since 2008, and 17% and costs by $80 million since 2002, via conservation and efficiency programs and millions of dollars worth of equipment upgrades.


• Received the EPA's 2012 ENERGY STAR® Sustained Excellence Award for successful strategies and programs regarding reduced energy consumption, energy efficiency improvements and GHG emissions reduction for the fifth year in a row.


• Purchased 4% (36,000 megawatts) of electricity from renewable energy sources in the U.S. and joined the EPA’s Green Power Partnership program.


• Achieved LEED certification at three new construction and two commercial interior projects with several more in progress.


• Reduced the amount of solid waste disposed in landfills and incinerators by 30% since 2008, and achieved its highest solid waste recycling rate to date at 68%.


• Reduced power demand for server rooms equal to the power demand of 2,500 homes and annual expenses for equipment and electricity by more than $26 million.


• Instated the use of washable plates and silverware and environmentally-preferable biodegradable materials in many of the company's cafeterias.


• Sourced paper containing 30% post-consumer recycled content


• Instated electronic invoicing for 82% of suppliers.


• Targeted engineers to research cadmium and hexavalent chromium in new and existing product designs and work to identify less hazardous alternative materials.


• Reduced water use by 21% from 2008, exceeding its initial 10% reduction goal,  through the use of 43 million gallons of recycled water, updated cooling towers, low-flow fixtures and innovative landscaping and irrigation techniques.


• Spent $21.8 million on environmental remediation throughout 41 active sites.

Quite an exhaustive list!

But that's not all. In the report, Raytheon also outlined its 15 long-term sustainable goals through 2015 in operations, supply chain, engineering and information technology. By 2015, Raytheon intends to have:

• decreased energy use by 10%.


• 100% green building rate.


• decreased GHG emissions by 10%.


• reduced GHG emissions by travel and suppliers by 5%.


• increased use of renewable energy by 5%.


• increased eco-friendly procurement in supply chain by 20%.


• instated supplier sustainability clauses.


• recycled 100% of paper used throughout facilities.


• decreased waste by 35%.


• decreased water use by 25%.


• decreased fleet petroleum use by 20%.

"Raytheon strives to be the best in all that we do, which is why we are proud to once again highlight our accomplishments benefiting shareholders, customers, employees and communities in our annual Corporate Responsibility Report," said Raytheon Chairman and CEO William H. Swanson. "In 2011, we achieved our safest year in company history and continued our strong focus on sustainability, ethics and diversity – a focus that we'll sharpen in 2012 as we set our sights even higher for achieving excellence in corporate responsibility practices."

View the full report here.

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.