Limited Brands
Three Limited Parkway
Columbus, OH 43230
Phone: (614) 415-7000
Green Program Contact
www.LimitedBrands.com
Company Green Practices
What types of green programs has your company implemented?
Managing the natural resources entrusted to our care is an integral component of our
commitment to stewardship. We believe effective management begins with the
thoughtful procurement of supplies, equipment and merchandise; carries on through
to our daily business operations and reaches all the way to our customer.
Interwoven throughout every step is our commitment to:
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Minimize waste generation and maximize recycling
Conserve energy and preserve natural resources
Promote the increased use of recycled content paper
Select and partner with environmentally responsible suppliers
Forge relationships with environmental agencies and nongovernmental
organizations
Hold ourselves accountable for our environmental stewardship efforts
We’re also dedicated to long-term environmental stewardship, believing that by
focusing on the future now, we’ll ensure that the global resources we all enjoy are
here for generations to come. Going forward, our commitment is to move forward,
consistently improving upon and expanding our environmental stewardship efforts,
while continuing to collaborate with other advocates who share our values.
Personal care products that are returned from our stores to our distribution center for
recycling are packaged and shipped in five-gallon plastic pails. We then empty the
containers and return them to the stores for reuse. In 2004 we reused 27,400 plastic
pails, equaling 55,000 pounds of plastic. In 2005 we reused 38,000 pounds of plastic
pails.
Additionally, in 2005 we changed the absorbent used in our recycling containers from
vermiculite, a mined substance, to 95 percent recycled-content fiber pads. This
change helps promote the market for the recycled content pads, and eliminates the
need for 30,000 pounds (15 tons) of vermiculite each year.
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Who is accountable for helping your company and its green programs meet
its goals?
“Limited Brands has long been recognized as a values-based organization. We are
committed to building a culture that fosters mutual respect, open communication and
sharing. As an enterprise, we have chosen to live our professional lives by this
philosophy … we consistently try to do what’s right. This behavior manifests itself
in how we treat each other, how we treat customers and how we support the
communities in which we live and work. That’s what makes me so proud of the
women and men who represent Limited Brands.” - Les Wexner, Chairman & CEO
How do your products/services reflect your green philosophy?
By reusing items, we’re eliminating the need to purchase new supplies made from
virgin materials. When our suppliers send merchandise to us, it comes in specially
designed, reusable cartons that we helped to develop. Working with our apparel
suppliers and a packaging materials expert, we designed unique cartons that are
manufactured using less raw material than previous containers, designed to hold
more merchandise, stack more efficiently and require less space on transportation
vehicles. After we receive the cartons, we reuse them by filling them with the
merchandise destined for our stores, thus reducing the number of new cartons we
have to purchase.
In 2003 Limited Brands completed the migration away from polyvinyl chloride
(PVC) containers for our Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret personal care
products, resulting in a reduction of PVC usage of 4.3 million pounds per year.
Those products are now contained in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is the
most widely used plastic in consumer packaging. It’s readily recycled in most
communities and is manufactured according to a process that is considered to be
more environmentally friendly than PVC manufacture.
How does your business model promote green?
Like most industries, the retail industry uses natural resources daily, such as energy,
water and forest products. At Limited Brands, we believe it’s how you manage
resources entrusted to your care that matters. That’s why, as an enterprise, we’re
dedicated to the responsible use and conservation of natural resources.
Merchandise that is received from vendors is often shipped on wood pallets. We
reuse the pallets to handle merchandise in our distribution centers. Pallets that are
damaged are sent for reconditioning and redistributed for further use. Those pallets
that are unusable are ground into fine, wood shavings, and ultimately are used as
mulch for landscaping purposes.
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Have your company’s facilities been certified as eco-friendly work
environments?
Lighting consumes a great deal of energy. We’re focused on reducing energy
consumption in our 3,500+ stores and facilities by increasing the energy efficiency of
our lighting. Since 2002, we’ve been outfitting our stores with more energy-efficient
light fixtures. While new stores have been built with more efficient lighting
technology, we have also been able to reduce energy consumption by more than 25
percent in over 800 of our older stores through an extensive lighting retrofit project.
Other lighting projects in 2005 and 2006 led to more than half of our stores being
outfitted with even more energy-efficient bulbs.
Does your company intentionally do business with suppliers or third-party
vendors that have green practices in place or use any preferences or
requirements that suppliers or vendors meet key environmental benchmarks?
Given this commitment to environmental stewardship, we are proud of our new
partnership with ForestEthics to raise environmental standards in the catalog
industry. As detailed below, we are taking measures to ensure that the pulp used in
the paper we procure for catalogs is not sourced from endangered forests. We are
working to continuously improve the environmental attributes of the paper we use,
including the levels of recycled and Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified
content. This initiative resulted from extensive and thoughtful discussions with
ForestEthics.
In December 2007, we were honored to receive the Boreal Stewardship Award from
the Canada’s Boreal Leadership Council. During the last three years, we have
learned more and more about the Canadian Boreal Forest. The more we have
learned, the more committed we have become to Boreal Forest conservation, to help
ensure survival of caribou and advocating for First Nations communities.
Can you share with us measurable results detailing the effectiveness of your
green initiatives?
Limited Brands understands the vital role forests play in our global ecosystem. We
believe, working together, we can ensure the environmental integrity of our forests,
while responsibly utilizing one of the greatest renewable resources we have. That’s
why we’re committed to seeking out and working with suppliers and manufacturers
who adhere to responsible forest management practices.
Working with our paper products suppliers, we have successfully been able to reduce
the demands on our forests by steadily increasing our use of post-consumer waste
(PCW) paper. For example, both our 2004 and 2005 annual report and proxy
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statement were printed on PCW paper. Additionally, we’ve increased the use of
paper certified to FSC standards. We have built on our successes, and in 2007:
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Will continue to print all of our 24 million Victoria’s Secret Clearance Catalogues
on FSC-certified paper.
Will further improve our efforts to carefully review our catalog mailing list. In
an effort to reduce the amount of unwanted catalogs mailed, we go to great
lengths to ensure that our catalog mailing lists are accurate and up to date.
Additionally, we have provided a toll-free number for clients to call if they want
to reduce or unsubscribe from catalog mailings.
Providing a toll-free number (1-800-411-5116) for clients to call if they want to
reduce or unsubscribe from catalog mailings.
Printing our 2007 annual report and proxy statement on FSC-certified paper that
is a combination of 100 percent PCW and 30 percent PCW paper stock. (The
financial section of our annual report is printed on 100 percent PCW paper stock
while the cover and editorial section are printed on 30 percent PCW paper stock.)
Changing the office and copier paper we use to 30 percent PCW.
Utilizing PCW or FSC-certified paper for over 90 percent of the other paper we
purchased.
Through these efforts we hope to play a constructive role in promoting more
environment friendly paper policies in the catalog industry.
Visual merchandising items that once were disposed of after use are now donated to
the Keep Franklin County Beautiful Waste-Not Center. The Waste-Not Center
provides useful materials for teachers, artists and nonprofit organizations in central
Ohio, thus providing a reuse for these high-quality materials and saving these
individuals and organizations significant money.
As an alternative to disposal, we go to great lengths to recycle materials, thus
reducing the burden on landfill space and providing materials for the recycling
industry and recycled-content products.
We are continuously expanding our recycling efforts and reducing the amount of
waste disposed of via landfill and other means. Across the company, we have
successfully developed processes to recycle many materials.
In 2005, Limited Brands recycled:
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8,200 tons of corrugate and office paper
280,000 pounds of alcohol-containing products, rather than dispose of the
material as hazardous waste
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54,000 pounds of metal
478,000 pounds of plastic
3,350 tons of wood from pallets
54,000 pounds of computers and other electronics
178,000 pounds of glass
Internal Employee Green Initiatives
What initiatives has the company encouraged its employees to participate in
that help to limit carbon emissions on an operating basis?
Along with our efforts to promote sustainably managed natural resources, we are also
effectively managing our waste to reduce the amount that is landfilled and increase
the amount that is recycled. In fact, recycling has become a significant part of our
daily operations.
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In 2005, we significantly increased our recycling efforts and reduced the amount
of waste disposed of via landfill and other means.
In 2005, we recycled nearly 8,200 tons of paper and cardboard.
In our distribution centers, we recycle close to 75 percent of all materials
identified for disposal. Recycling is just one element of a three-pronged approach
that we’ve adopted known as the three R’s—Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
Finding ways to further reduce our environmental footprint is a responsibility we take
seriously. We’re committed to working with our suppliers and vendors on finding
creative ways to further reduce the amount of paper, packaging materials and other
natural resources used in our business operations.
The movement of freight around the world requires the use of fossil fuels. The use
of ocean-going vessels is a more fuel efficient means of transporting merchandise.
We work with our brands and freight carriers to maximize the use of ocean-going
vessels, and minimize the use of air shipment. To complement this effort, we
optimize cargo space by fully loading cargo containers bound for the United States.
For freight bound to our distribution centers we are increasing our utilization of rail
service. Rail service utilizes less fuel, creates less highway congestion, and produces
less air emissions than truck service.
In our distribution centers, we utilize highly efficient trailer stacking techniques to
optimize the use of trailer space and reduce the number of trucks and amount of
energy required to transport our merchandise.
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Do you have numbers or percentages of how many of your employees are
involved in eco-focused programs?
Limited Brands is currently a member of the following organizations:
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U.S. EPA—WasteWise Program
U.S. EPA Smartway Program
Keep Franklin County Beautiful Waste-Not Center
Ohio Association of Recyclers
National Recycling Coalition
Sustainability Roundtable of Central Ohio
Environmental Development
Do you encourage employees and managers to attend/participate in green
and/or environmental, programs, courses or workshops outside of your
company?
At Limited Brands, we are characterized by a deep commitment to each other, and to
our communities. With our body of giving programs growing, and more of our
associates participating every day, we will continue to give back—as individuals and
as an enterprise—and continue to make a difference!
Are there time-sensitive goals in place to ensure measurable progress?
In addition, we are committed to the following measures going forward:
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We will partner with our primary paper supplier to eliminate all pulp supplied
from endangered forests, particularly the Alberta Rocky Mountain Foothills and
British Columbia Inland Temperate Rainforest.
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We will shift our catalogs to either 10 percent PCW or FSC mixed-source content
over the years 2007 and 2008.
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We will have a preference for FSC certification, and have partnered with one of
our principal suppliers to shift four of its mills to FSC by 2008.
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We are committed to continual improvement of the environmental attributes of
our catalog paper and paper use and will have an independent third party audit
our progress and make public the results.
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We are committed to phase out paper procured from endangered forests.
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We will commit $1 million to research and advocacy to protect endangered
forests.
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Through these measures and other efforts we hope to play a constructive role in
promoting more environmental friendly paper policies in the broader catalog
industry.
Green Career Opportunities
Are there any specific units that are focused on green initiatives in the business
practice?
By reusing items, we eliminate the need to purchase new supplies made from virgin
materials.
That’s why we provide sturdy cartons to our apparel suppliers, which they then use
to ship our merchandise to us. We then reuse those same cartons to ship merchandise
to our stores. By reusing the specially designed cartons, we eliminate the need for
additional packaging. In 2005, we reused 363 tons of cartons.
Associations—Limited Brands is currently a member of the following
environmentally focused organizations:
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Association of Ohio Recyclers
National Recycling Coalition
Central Ohio Sustainability Alliance—Waste Not Center
Central Ohio Sustainability Roundtable
Partnerships—Limited Brands is currently involved in partnerships with the
following organizations:
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US EPA WasteWise
US EPA SmartWay
Central Ohio Sustainability Alliance—Waste Not Center
ForestEthics
Recognition
Please list any awards or recognitions your environmental program(s) have
received.
EPA recognizes Limited Bands
In October 2006, Limited Brands received honorable mention under the Very Large
Business category for our noteworthy accomplishments in waste reduction at the
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2006 WasteWise and National Partnership for Environmental Priorities Annual
Conference: Partnering for Success in Sustainability held in Arlington, Virginia.
In October of 2005, we received special recognition from the EPA, garnering two
prestigious Gold Achievement awards ... one for a unique packaging reduction
program that has resulted in a significant reduction in the amount of waste generated
during our daily operations, and another for our membership in the EPA’s WasteWise
program.
In a news release—issued by the U.S. EPA—the EPA states “it is proud to honor
Limited Brands for these extraordinary achievements,” adding that “Limited Brands
has its priorities straight with a clear commitment to reducing waste.”
Limited Brands has received the following awards and recognition for our
environmental efforts:
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Boreal Award from the Canadian Boreal Initiative, December 2007
Excellence Award from the EPA Smartway Transportation Partnership,
November 2007
Partner of the Year—Very Large Business from the EPA Waste Wise Program,
October 2007
Honorable Mention in the Very Large Business category from the EPA
WasteWise program, October 2006
Emerald Award for “Best Practices” from the Solid Waste Authority of Central
Ohio, April 2006
Two Gold Achievement awards from the EPA WasteWise program, October 2005
The Firm Says
What is the company’s environmental mission statement?
As a values-led organization, Limited Brands is integrating the protection and
preservation of global resources into our everyday business practices. It’s part of
doing what is right, and means we’re committed to sustainable, responsible and
thoughtful environmental behavior.
We strive to manage the natural resources entrusted to us through:
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thoughtful procurement of supplies, equipment and merchandise; and
our daily business operations.
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Interwoven through every step is our commitment to:
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minimize waste generation and maximize recycling;
partner with not-for-profit organizations to promote reuse;
conserve energy and preserve natural resources;
promote the increased use of recycled content paper;
partner with environmentally responsible suppliers;
build relationships with environmental agencies and nongovernmental
organizations; and
hold ourselves accountable for our environmental stewardship efforts.
Additional Information
Energy and Climate
Lighting and air conditioning consume a great deal of energy. In an effort to reduce
our energy consumption, Limited Brands has been rolling out numerous energyefficient projects that have significant energy savings and pollution reduction
associated with them. Our efforts include:
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building new stores with more efficient lighting technology, including highly
efficient Ceramic Metal Halide (CMH) bulbs.
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modifying approximately 900 stores with more efficient lighting bulbs and
fixtures.
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replacing older, less efficient lamps in over 700 stores with new, more efficient
compact fluorescent lamps.
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these lighting projects alone reduce our store electricity consumption by
50,000,000 kwh annually and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than
35,000 metric tons.
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proactively replacing aging HVAC units in our stores with newer, more efficient
units. The first phase of this project has resulted in the replacement of
approximately 125 HVAC units over the past two years, reducing electricity
consumption by more than 1,500,000 kwh while cutting carbon dioxide
emissions by more than 1000 metric tons.
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replacing the existing roofs on three of our seven Ohio distribution centers with
newly designed roofing systems creating a 15 percent reduction in energy
consumption and costs. Following the success of the first three installations, we
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plan to install the same energy-efficient roofing on the rest of our distribution
centers.
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over the next several years, replacing all of our current fluorescent lighting
fixtures in our home offices, distribution centers and call centers with more
efficient, compact fluorescent lighting fixtures. Replacing the lighting in these
buildings will reduce energy consumption in these buildings by an estimated
15,000,000 kwh and reduce emissions by 8,640 metric tons of carbon dioxide.
Fossil Fuels
The movement of freight around the world requires the use of fossil fuels. The use
of ocean vessels is the most fuel-efficient means of transporting merchandise from
overseas. We work with freight carriers to maximize the use of ocean vessels and
minimize the use of air shipment. To complement this effort, we optimize cargo
space by fully loading cargo containers bound for the United States.
Limited Brands is committed to:
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increasing the utilization of our rail service. Rail service utilizes less fuel and
produces less air emissions than truck service.
utilizing highly efficient trailer stacking techniques to optimize the use of trailer
space and reduce the number of trucks and amount of energy required to transport
our merchandise in our distribution centers.
In 2006, Limited Brands became a partner in the EPA’s SmartWay Transport
Partnership program. This program works with shippers, freight carriers and
logistics companies to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution caused
by the transportation of goods. Limited Brands is working with the SmartWay
program on several projects that will result in a reduction of our greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions. In 2005, Limited Brands began a program to convert much of our
inbound freight from truck to rail in order to reduce diesel fuel consumption and
emissions. During 2007, this much-expanded project resulted in:
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a 100 percent increase in the number of containers shipped via rail instead of
truck over 2006;
a savings of 122,500 gallons of diesel fuel; and
reduced emissions of carbon dioxide by nearly 1,300 metric tons.
We will continue to work with SmartWay to identify opportunities to optimize this
program in the future.
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In October 2007, Limited Brands was honored to receive an Environmental
Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay
Transport Partnership for its leadership in conserving energy and lowering
greenhouse gas emissions from its transportation and freight activities.
In 2007 Limited Brands participated for the first time in the Carbon Disclosure
Project by completing and submitting CDP5, the format in which participants
document the carbon generated by their activities and operations.
Waste Reduction and Recycling
We’re committed to working with our suppliers and vendors to find creative ways to
further reduce the amount of paper, packaging materials and other natural resources
used in our business operations.
Since 2005, Limited Brands has been a partner in the EPA WasteWise program,
which works with companies to increase waste management efforts to ultimately
reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on climate change. Our recycling
efforts have been centered on:
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Efficient packaging
Elimination of PVC containers
Store recycling efforts
Pallet recycling
Product reuse (donations/sample sale)
Other recycling
Below is a list of some of the items Limited Brands recycled in 2007:
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9,691 tons of corrugate and office paper
217 tons of alcohol-containing products, rather than dispose of the material as
hazardous waste
274 tons of metal
546 tons of plastic
Eight tons of textiles
4,333 tons of wood from pallets
Six tons of toner cartridges
82 tons of computers and other electronics
15 tons of batteries
125 tons of glass
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In total, during 2007, Limited Brands kept nearly 18,000 tons of material from going
to landfill through reuse and recycling!
Efficient Packaging
Our merchandise is stored and shipped in specially designed cartons that Limited
Brands helped to develop along with our apparel suppliers and a packaging material
expert. These unique cartons are manufactured using fewer raw materials than our
previous cartons and are designed to hold more merchandise, stack more efficiently
and require less space on transportation vehicles. The containers are manufactured
with approximately 46 percent post-consumer waste recycled recycled content.
Elimination of PVC Containers
In 2003, Limited Brands stopped using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) containers for our
Bath & Body Works and Victoria’s Secret personal care products, which reduced our
PVC usage by 4.3 million pounds per year (insert fun fact). Those personal care
products are now stored in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) containers, which is the
most widely used plastic in consumer packaging. It’s readily recycled in most
communities and its manufacture is considered to be more environmentally friendly
than PVC.
Store Recycling Containers
Recyclable personal care products returned from our stores to our distribution center
are packaged and shipped in five-gallon plastic pails. When they arrive at our
distribution centers, we empty the containers, clean them and return them to the
stores for reuse. In 2007, 33,588 pails were reused, weighing approximately 35.6
tons.
Additionally, in 2005, we changed the absorbent used in our recycling containers
from vermiculite, a mined substance, to 95 percent recycled-content fiber pads. This
change helps promote the market for the recycled-content pads and eliminated the
need for nearly 17 tons of vermiculite in 2007.
Pallets
Merchandise that is received from vendors is often shipped on wood pallets. We
reuse the pallets to handle merchandise in our distribution centers. Pallets that are
damaged are sent to a third party for repair and are redistributed for further use.
Pallets unable to be reused are ground into fine wood shavings and are ultimately
used for purposes such as mulch for landscaping. During 2007, we sent more than
4,000 tons of wood pallets for recycling.
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Product Reuse
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Donations—In an effort to find beneficial ways in which surplus products and
supplies can be reused, Limited Brands has partnered with various charitable
organizations, such as the Central Ohio Sustainability Alliance—Waste Not
Center. The Waste Not Center accepts donations of items that are in good
condition and makes them available to teachers, artists and others for use in
various types of projects. In 2007, Limited Brands donated to various charities
approximately 20,000 pounds of discontinued product and other items that would
otherwise have been thrown away into a landfill.
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Associate Sale—The associate sale is an event in which merchandise and
products that can no longer be sold in our retail stores are made available for our
associates to purchase at a reduced cost. Sales from the 2007 associate sale
resulted in the reuse of more than 57 tons of products/merchandise that would
otherwise have been thrown away. Additionally, all money raised through the
sale is donated to United Way of Central Ohio.
Other Recycling
As an alternative to disposal, Limited Brands goes to great lengths to recycle
miscellaneous materials. In 2007, approximately 83 percent of all material processed
through our distribution centers for disposal was instead recycled or reused.
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