Timberland, NHBB join national enviro project
The Timberland Company of Stratham and New Hampshire Ball Bearings of Peterborough have joined the Facility Reporting Project, a new initiative of the Boston-based Ceres coalition, which is aimed at improving sustainability reporting and environmental performance at individual facilities across the country.
The companies are among eight nationwide that have agreed to be pilot test participants in the project.
Timberland will develop a sustainability report for its Dominican Republic manufacturing facility, using draft reporting guidance developed by FRP over the past two years.
New Hampshire Ball Bearings has agreed to create a facility-level environmental report for its Peterborough operation in New Hampshire.
Timberland and New Hampshire Ball Bearings’ experience will help the FRP develop its final Sustainability Reporting Guidance, which it expects to issue later this year, said Mindy S. Lubber, president of Ceres.
“Timberland and New Hampshire Ball Bearings both deserve kudos for recognizing the importance of facility-wide reporting and investing time and energy to develop a program that will bring environmental benefits all across the country.”
Ceres, with technical assistance from the Tellus Institute, launched the FRP in 2002 to help companies improve facility-specific reporting and performance on sustainability challenges, such as workplace conditions, energy usage or global climate change. The project builds on Ceres’ launch of the Global Reporting Initiative in the late 1990s, which has since become the de-facto international standard for corporate reporting on economic, social and environmental performance.
Other pilot participants include Ford Motor Company, YSI, Northside Foods – a subsidiary of Smithfield Foods, Harwood Products – a California-based sustainable timber company, and Rockwell Collins. All facilities will have an opportunity to gain technical assistance from Ceres to create facility-level environmental and sustainability reports. – NHBR STAFF
