Page 370 - Design for Environment A Guide to Sustainable Product Development

Service Industries 345

ducing the amount of virgin plastic resin needed. A 915,000
pound reduction in packaging weight was achieved through
implementation of the company’s carton board reduction
strategy.
• McDonald’s USA reduced the weight of the 32-ounce poly-
propylene cup, saving 650 tons of resin per year. The F-Flute
containers (see Figure 19.4) for the Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, and
Quarter Pounder with Cheese now weigh 25% less and in -
corporate a minimum of 46% post-consumer recycled con-
tent and 71% unbleached fiber. The recycled content in these
containers saves more than 23,000 tons of wood, equivalent
to 161,000 trees, according to the EDF Paper Calculator.
Similarly, Starbucks introduced hot beverage paper cups made
with 10% post-consumer recycled content into its U.S. and Cana-
dian stores in 2006. These cups were the first direct contact food
packaging containing post-consumer recycled content to receive a
favorable safety review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The company estimates that this will yield annual savings of 11,300
tons of wood (about 78,000 trees), 58 billion BTUs of energy (enough
to supply 640 homes for a year), 47 million gallons of wastewater,
and 3 million pounds of solid waste.

Package Delivery Services
In an economy that emphasizes speed, package delivery has be -
come an indispensable service. The availability of rapid, affordable
delivery combined with electronic commerce has enabled innova-
tive business models in a number of industries, such as computers
(e.g., Dell) and books (e.g., Amazon).
UPS, formerly United Parcel Service, has evolved unimaginably
from its origins in 1907 as a messenger service, with deliveries made
on foot or on bicycles. Today, UPS is a global powerhouse employ-
ing 425,000 people operating airplanes, ground vehicles, logistics
facilities, call centers, data centers, and retail stores. UPS believes in
“connecting the world responsibly” and has made sustainability a
corporate priority [6]. Examples of environmental sustainability ini-
tiatives include:
• Ground and Air Fleets
UPS continues to develop and use sophisticated aircraft
routing technology to improve both fuel efficiency and
environmental performance.
UPS operates the largest private “green” fleet in the trans-
portation industry, and continues to enhance the fleet by
testing and deploying hybrid, compressed natural gas and
propane-powered delivery vehicles.