American Express Company 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report

GRI INDEX
Sustaining a safe, healthy and
efficient workplace
A safe, healthy and efficient work
environment is vital for our employees and
our business. We continually invest in the
design and maintenance of our facilities.
We use environmentally responsible and
resource efficient processes and materials
in our buildings. If we need to renovate
buildings or undertake new construction,
we aim to meet LEED or other green
building certifications. By 2018, we aim
to have 40 percent of our global square
footage green building certified. 10
Our flexible workplace program, BlueWork,
is designed to help employees achieve
work-life balance and makes efficient use of
our workspace. BlueWork helps to reduce
our carbon footprint through the use of
sustainable furniture and construction
materials, and ensuring our electronics
adhere to best-in-class energy efficiency
standards. The program also encourages
telecommuting and virtual meetings.
We also replace older or less efficient
equipment with newer, more efficient
technologies – such as LEDs for lighting.
We have set up a tri-generation system at
our Brighton facility in the U.K., and a new
building management system in India that
automatically manages our heating and
cooling equipment, switching away from
dirtier fuels to natural gas. Since 2011,
our energy efficiency initiatives have
enabled us to reduce our overall energy
consumption by 24 percent.
Finally, we have various programs that
promote ridesharing, cycling to work and
taking public transport. Our carpooling
partner Valley Metro recognized the
American Express Trip Reduction
Program as 2015’s Best Trip Reduction
Program for a Public Company with over
500 employees in Arizona.
Reducing waste, water and
chemicals
Reducing waste, water and chemicals
is one way we strive to better serve our
planet. Paper and decommissioned
technology products are primary types of
waste for financial services companies.
To manage our waste, we encourage
employees to reduce the amount of paper
they use and to recycle printed materials.
We follow industry best practices for
recycling our technology waste by using
an ISO 140001 certified recycler that
safely and responsibly recycles IT assets
we no longer need.
Although water risk is generally not a
significant issue for the company, we have
also put water-reduction measures into
action at key offices. We also prioritize the
use of green cleaning products.
2015 HIGHLIGHTS
11 %
reduction in office
printed paper
compared to 2014.
23 %
reduction in
waste generation
compared to 2014.
2 %
water reduction
compared to 2014.
47 %
of our waste was
diverted from landfills
by recycling or
composting it.
35 %
of our global real estate
portfolio is greenbuilding
certified.
21 %
energy consumption
reduction compared
to 2014.
Putting sustainability
on the menu
American Express Food Services
and Facilities Management are on
a quest to ‘green’ every American
Express cafeteria in the U.S. The
program focuses on reducing waste
and offering our people healthier
and more sustainable choices.
Initiatives include:
• Recycling fryer oils, which can be
reused for bio-diesel fuel.
• Offering local, organic products.
• Using sustainable seafood from
certified fisheries.
• Offering bulk condiments instead of,
or in addition to, portion packs.
• Encouraging the use of reusable
dinnerware and mugs and using
tree-free napkins.
• Installing aerobic food digesters
to turn food waste into water. One
machine can eliminate around 50
pounds of waste every hour, saving
about 400 pounds of waste from
being sent to landfills every day.
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