Yellow Pages and White Pages print and online directories go carbon neutral

Sensis has announced its Yellow Pages and White Pages print and online directories have been certified carbon neutral through the Australian Government’s Greenhouse Friendly program.

Sensis will achieve this by offsetting the carbon emissions of its directories through Greenhouse Friendly accredited providers and projects in Australia.

The certification is part of Sensis’s Commitment to Climate Change announcement and follows an independent life cycle assessment undertaken by environmental professional services company URS Australia. The assessment enabled Sensis to identify which aspects of its directory business have the greatest environmental impacts and establish how to reduce impacts for the long term.

Sensis CEO Bruce Akhurst said, “With this announcement, the millions of Australians who use our directories each week can be assured Sensis is committed to playing our part in combating climate change and working to reduce our carbon emissions.

“Sensis will offset emissions generated throughout the complete life cycle of the Yellow Pages and White Pages print and online directories, including the production, use, disposal and distribution of the directories, from 1 February 2010.

“We are also pleased to announce our target to reduce the company’s operational greenhouse gas footprint by 5% year on year,” he said.

The directories (supply chain included) are the largest part of Sensis’s carbon footprint, each year accounting for approximately 175,000 tonnes of emissions, while Sensis operational emissions (fleet, electricity and air travel) account for about 30,000 tonnes of emissions.

Sensis has already started implementing a number of initiatives to reduce its operational greenhouse gas footprint, such as: enabling videoconferencing at 21 office locations; the introduction of four cylinder diesel cars into the Sensis fleet from March 2010; and the scoping of new IT Purchasing Guidelines incorporating energy efficiency.