Operations

Medtronic has reduced its environmental impacts from several enterprise-wide operations initiatives.

Global Print Policy

In fiscal year 2009, Medtronic launched a Global Print Policy to reduce the costs and associated environmental impacts of printing, copying, scanning, and faxing. The project involved initial site assessments and interviews, which led to recommendations, implementation, and follow up measurement.

Medtronic began implementing duplex printing (automatic default to two-sided printing) and the optional cancellation of print jobs when they are not printed within a certain time frame in our Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA locations.

These changes decreased our paper consumption in these locations by 13,600 reams, a 43 percent reduction compared to 2007. This saved almost seven million sheets of paper measuring 37 metric tonnes, equivalent to nearly 1,000 trees.

By decreasing the total number of printers and increasing the employee to device ratio, our Rice Creek facility in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA saved nearly $18,000 a month. Over a three-year period, this translates into CO2e emissions reductions of nearly 39 metric tonnes and a 50 percent reduction in total electricity use.

Global implementation of our print policy is expected to yield $6.5 million in annual savings when it is completed in 2011.

Global Facilities Council

Medtronic’s Global Facilities Council establishes policies, guidelines, and standards for how we select, design, construct, and operate our facilities. The Council initiates activities that support our Environmental Sustainability Policy, as well as facility-specific goals, and keeps abreast of emerging technologies and advancements in sustainability-related areas such as renewable energy. The Council develops funding guidelines for including of green initiatives in all facility-level projects and establishes standards for indoor environmental conditions including lighting and temperature.

Green IT

Medtronic IT pursued several green initiatives during fiscal year 2010, including:

  • Reducing energy consumption through global consolidation of our IT systems to Woodbury, Minnesota, USA.
  • Reducing corporate travel through the use of desktop conferencing and improved video communication technologies.
  • Participating in the Dell plant-a-tree program, where one tree is planted for every Dell computer Medtronic purchases.