The company also cut its sulphur dioxide emissions (SO2) emissions by 135,000 tonnes in a nine year period from 2000 to 2009, an amount nearly equal to all the SO2 emissions from road vehicles in the United States for an entire year*.
"Even in times of global economic crisis, we must continue to build value for our customers," declared Arild B. Iversen, CEO of Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics. "An efficient supply chain, with reduced environmental risks in every possible step, is one of the surest ways to cut costs while benefitting the environment."
The figures cited above are contained in the company's 2009 Environmental and Social Responsibility Report , the shipping industry's first emissions inventory report to receive 3rd party verification that it conforms to the accounting requirements of ISO 14064-1* and the GHG protocol.
Melanie Moore, Global Head of Environment and Quality, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics commented, "We are working hard to minimise our environmental footprint by working closely with our customers to reduce their carbon risk in the supply chain while creating real economic and brand value.
"There are many environmental challenges that we need to confront, but we will continue to be bold enough to address them by ensuring we remain an environmental forerunner," Ms. Moore concluded.
WWL's environmental and social repsonsibility report contains performance metrics, and information on the company's other environmental initiatives from 2009 including:
* WWL's pioneering Supply Chain Optimization study with Indian automaker Tata Group and energy consulting group Xyntéo to identify opportunities to reduce both carbon emissions and costs from the Indian automaker's outbound supply chain.
* A collaborative project being run with Wallenius Water with the 2008/09 Volvo Ocean Race to advance scientific knowledge of invasive species and the impact of international shipping on the oceans. A nine-month water sampling project run with the crews of the round-the-world yacht race generated valuable data which is currently being analysed about invasive species, which the WWF has named as one of the four major threats to the world's oceans.
* WWL's continued close partnership with WWF, the global conservation organization, and the company's sole sponsorship of the WWF High Seas Conservation Programme which strives to improve high seas conservation and governance through sustainable shipping practices.