Raytheon Decreases Emissions, but Could Increase Support for Veterans

Last week, Raytheon issued its annual corporate social responsiblity (CSR) report. This year’s version sheds light on what the U.S defense contractor has accomplished on the environmental, social and corporate governance fronts. From its funding of education programs to working with veterans, Raytheon and its employees have had yet another productive year.

So what has changed since the company’s previous CSR report? Not much actually, but give the missile manufacturer credit for working on a variety of community programs as well as making progress on a wide array of issues from transparency to greenhouse gas emissions.

The following are some of the highlights from Raytheon’s CSR report:

Sustainability

Last year, Raytheon committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent from a 2008 baseline. With 90 percent of the company’s emissions coming from energy consumption, the company has focused mostly on energy conservation and energy efficiency. Raytheon is close to meeting that goal: as of 2012, its overall GHG emissions reduction stands at 21 percent. Plus, the company has already passed its 2008-2015 energy reduction targets.

Meanwhile, Raytheon says the company is working on reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfill or incinerators. While not all of the company’s sites are zero waste, Raytheon is slowly edging in that direction. Raytheon set a 2015 goal to reduce its waste by 35 percent from 2008 levels--at last check, that reduction is 41 percent.

Support for veterans

It is only right that a defense contractor find a way to fund opportunities for the veterans who have served in the United States military. To that end, Raytheon works with NGOs such as the Wounded Warrior Project to provide training for injured members of the armed services. Another organization with which Raytheon partners is the Student Veterans of America to fund higher education scholarships for former soldiers. Since 2005, Raytheon has contributed $18.5 million to these and other organizations. That’s a nice number, but considering the company made close to $3 billion in operating income on almost $25 billion in revenues, Raytheon could, and should, do far more.

Ethics and governance

Compared to many companies, Raytheon maintains a fairly independent board structure. Tied in to the company’s claim it is committed to good corporate governance is the company’s ethics training program. As is the case with any multinational company, a complicated, cross-border supply chain can invite all kinds of headaches. To keep employees updated on conflict of interest, product integrity and other similar issues, Raytheon sends webcasts to employees. Titled “EthicSpace,” the short video vignettes tell stories based on actual cases the company’s ethics office has investigated.

Click here to review the entire report.

Based in Fresno, California, Leon Kaye is the editor of GreenGoPost.com and frequently writes about business sustainability strategy. Leon also contributes to Guardian Sustainable Business; his work has also appeared on Sustainable Brands, Inhabitat and Earth911. You can follow Leon and ask him questions on Twitter or Instagram (greengopost).

[Image credit of Raytheon’s JLENS aerostat takes flight.: Raytheon]