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| About Lillian Vernon > Lillian Vernon Corp. Forest Resources & Environmental Policy |
Lillian Vernon Corp. Forest Resources & Environmental Policy
September 12, 2007 |
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INTRODUCTION:
As a leading catalog marketer Lillian Vernon Corp. (LVC) recognizes its responsibility to the environment and to protect our natural resources. Our paper procurement program is based on the promotion of sustainable forestry, continuous improvement in the manufacturing process and the reduction and reuse of the paper we use to communicate with our customers. Also, sustainability encompasses more than just our catalog program it is a company wide commitment to efficiency and conservation across our corporate disciplines. Finally, in keeping with our commitment to reduce resource consumption, we actively encourage shopping via our websites where roughly half of the company's orders are placed by consumers via this environmentally friendly channel.
PAPER, PRINTING AND LOGISTICS:
We expect our paper and printing suppliers to meet the following specific environmental practices:
- We expect our suppliers to practice Sustainable Forest Management on land they own or manage, verified by an independent third party using the standards of a credible and recognized SFM standard. The following recognized standards are considered credible SFI the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, PEFC the Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes FSC the Forest Stewardship Council or CSA the Canadian Standards Association.
- We expect our suppliers when supplementing fiber made on site with purchased pulp to require certification to one of the four standards above by the 4th quarter of 2008.
- We expect our suppliers to be engaged in increasing the amount of certified fiber in their operations, as well as making recycled fiber more available and cost competitive.
- Suppliers will be asked to report on their percentage of Certified Fiber and progress against their annual goals on a semi annual basis.
- Annual supplier meetings will be held to discuss and verify progress against our environmental goals, origin of fiber and the mills environmental initiatives.
- We prefer suppliers that have or are in the process of becoming Chain of Custody Certified to the SFI, PEFC or FSC standard, depending on the fiber basket available to the mill. We will require all suppliers to have a certification in place by the 4th quarter of 2008. Multiple certifications are acceptable.
- We expect our suppliers to be in 100% compliance with all Federal, State, and local environmental and forestry laws and regulations.
- We expect suppliers not to accept illegally harvested wood, and we will not knowingly accept products containing fiber that has been illegally harvested.
- We expect suppliers to seek to conserve the ecological function of natural forests and the biological diversity they contain.
- We will not accept paper from suppliers whose practice is to convert natural stands to plantations or stands of trees with genetically modified organisms.
- We will not accept products made with fiber that has come from protected areas, or those with High Conservation Value.
- The bleaching process is to be free of elemental chlorine; acceptable processes are ECF, EECF or TCF.
- We expect our suppliers to work towards continual improvement throughout their manufacturing processes, in the reduction of energy consumption, reliance on fossil fuels, water and air emissions.
- We will give preference to suppliers who have open and transparent Environmental or Sustainability reporting, and who publish Environmental goals and report against them. These reports can be published in document form or posted on the supplier website.
- We encourage our suppliers to include Post Consumer Waste (PCW) recycled content in our catalog paper, office papers and packaging when it is available at an acceptable quality and cost.
- All print facilities must have recycling operations for scrap metals, cardboard pallets, shrink-wrap, printing plates and ink.
- We encourage our suppliers to follow sound environmental practices such as reclaiming hazardous materials such as solvents and inks for recycling or reuse.
- Computer to plate technology (filmless plating) must be the standard plating process.
- Paper suppliers and printers will optimize load factors (fullness of trucks) to ensure maximum fuel efficiency.
MARKETING INITIAVES:
LVC is committed to minimizing the use of paper in our catalog and other print advertising in the following ways:
- We are committed to the use of #5 groundwood paper stock that is over 30% more efficient in its fiber consumption than #3 freesheet papers.
- We will continue to test lower basis weight papers to determine their suitability in our catalogs.
- We will test Post Consumer Waste (PCW) recycled content paper in a catalog mailing in the near future.
- We primarily use of Roto-gravure printing, which generates less process paper waste and incorporates higher trim efficiency than other forms of printing.
- Having recently reduced our flagship catalog to 8" x 8" square, we will assess further reductions in the trim size of our catalogs as a means to reduce our dependence on paper.
- We continue to invest in catalog selection software and techniques that allows us to better target our mailings to customers.
- We continue to develop and promote our website to increase the migration to on-line shopping.
- We have eliminated the mailing of stand-alone "Sale" catalogs and are now liquidating inventory with insert sections in our regular catalog and via our website.
- We manage the circulation of our catalogs, including respecting the wishes of our customers' opting out of receiving printed mail.
- We keep our customer database "clean" through ongoing investments in software and regular hygiene maintenance, thus reducing duplicate mailings and undeliverable catalogs.
- We promote the recycling of our printed catalogs by featuring The DMA's "recycle please" logo in our order forms.
SUSTAINABILITY, RECYCLING AND RESOURCE STEWARDSHIP:
Lillian Vernon continues to demonstrate a commitment to environmental goals through efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle at the Virginia Beach distribution center. Believing the best way to be environmentally friendly is to minimize use of environmentally sensitive products; we have eliminated our use of non-biodegradable packing material. To minimize the use of corrugate, we strive to minimize the use of "inner-cartons" for inbound product. Additionally, we strive to minimize the size of our shipping cartons. This enables us to maximize the number of orders shipped on each truck, minimizing fuel consumption. We also repair and reuse most wooden pallets in our operations rather than buying new.
The LVC distribution center has an extensive recycling program, including the following types of materials:
- Corrugate from inbound freight, paper, catalogs and magazines
- Antifreeze, Lubricants, Paints, Solvents, Aerosols, and various chemicals
- Batteries
- Computer products
- Metal, Wood, and Glass
- Fluorescent lamps
COMMUNICATION:
In the spirit of continual improvement and communication, we will regularly communicate with our stakeholders including publicly posting this policy our web site and annually reviewing our progress. We will continue to collaborate with stakeholder groups to find responsible solutions to environmental issues and incorporate them into our forest resources and environmental policy.
Terms:
FSC-The Forest Stewardship Council www.fsc.org
SFI- The Sustainable Forestry Initiative www.sfiprogram.org
PEFC-The program for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes www.pefc.org
CSA-The Canadian Standards Association www.csa.ca
ECF-Elemental Chlorine Free bleaching
EECF-Enhanced elemental Chlorine Free Bleaching
TCF-Totally Chlorine Free Bleaching
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