Newsweek's Greenest 500 Companies
Posted on Wed, Oct 07, 2009 @ 09:38 AM
By Ian Lanza, Life Sciences Operations Coordinator
Last week Newsweek released a report ranking the 500 greenest companies. The report had the world’s most environmental aware and sustainable corporations from multiple industries head to head for the top ranking. With Hewlit Packard taking the top spot, Johnson and Johnson ranked third. Other pharmaceutical companies landing in the top 100 included Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Allergan, Pfizer, Hospira, and Abbot Laboratories.
Johnson and Johnson’s top spot can be attributed to its industry leading carbon reduction goals and the word’s largest fleet of hybrid vehicles. Abbot Laboratories has reduced GHG by 17% adjusted to sales each year and has set a goal to reduce water consumption by 40% by 2011. Wyeth earned a spot in the top 10 pharmaceutical companies because of its impressive reductions in waste and consumption, including a 35% reduction in CO2 emissions from 2000 to 2006, reduction of non-hazardous wastes by 68% and a reduction of hazardous waste by 67%.
The ranking report has caught some criticism over the methodology used to measure sustainability. Ranking companies across multiple industries on sustainability becomes very difficult because it is like comparing apples to oranges. It is very difficult to fairly compare an inherently dirty industry like mining to a company with a naturally low environmental impact like a finance company.
The study ranked each organization’s green score, based on the company’s environmental impact, green policies and performance, and reputation. Did your company make the list?
http://greenrankings.newsweek.com/top500/