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RAPAPORT... Tiffany & Co. continued its commitment to sustainability, responsible mining and best business practices, according to the retailer's annual corporate social responsibility report for 2012. During the past year, the company stated it had positively influenced the entire jewelry supply chain, continued to work on promoting responsible mining standards and increased awareness about critical issues, such as the environmental concerns surrounding the development of the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska.
During the year, Tiffany & Co. sourced diamonds, gemstones and precious metals from mines that conform to its high standards of social and environmental responsibility. Tiffany & Co. manufactures approximately 60 percent of its jewelry at its own manufacturing facilities. In 2012, Tiffany traced 98 percent of precious metals procured by Tiffany & Co.-owned and operated manufacturing facilities directly to a known mine or a recycler, according to the firm.
Tiffany & Co. traced all of its rough diamonds that were purchased in 2012 either directly to a known mine or to a supplier that sources from multiple known mines, all of which reside in Kimberley Process compliant countries. Over the past few years, Tiffany & Co. has financed diamond mines to assure access to high-quality diamonds and it specifically finances projects in Sierra Leone and South Africa, allowing for a new supply of diamonds that meet the retailer's standards and requirements for traceability.
All of Tiffany & Co.'s paper and packaging suppliers for Tiffany Blue bags and Tiffany Blue Boxes were Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified. Tiffany & Co. also recently introduced a new Tiffany Blue bag, with 50 percent post-consumer recycled content in selected cities in the U.S. Based upon the success of that program, the retailer plans to roll out these new bags in additional cities in the U.S. and abroad.
Tiffany & Co. was added to the FTSE4Good® Index in 2012, which identifies businesses that meet globally recognized corporate social responsibility standards. Tiffany & Co. performed its first annual disclosure in accordance with the Tiffany & Co. Principles Governing Corporate Political Spending, adopted by the board of directors in 2011. These principles apply globally to Tiffany & Co. and its controlled affiliates.
In 2012, the Goal Achievement Award, assigned by the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Excellence in Greenhouse Gas Management, was awarded to Tiffany & Co. for surpassing the goal to reduce U.S. Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent per square foot of building space from 2006 to 2011. Between 2010 and 2012, the Tiffany & Co. New York affiliate’s headquarters were consolidated into an LEED-CI Platinum office space, reducing emissions by 23 percent.
Now in its second year, the retailer continued to work toward what it determined to be an ambitious goal of reducing its incidence rate, or the number of recordable workplace injuries or illnesses per 100 full-time equivalent employees in the U.S., by nearly 70 percent against a 2011 baseline by 2016.
Tiffany & Co. made charitable contributions totaling nearly 1 percent of its pre-tax earnings in 2012 and it operates The Tiffany & Co. Foundation, which continues to play a key role in its sustainability efforts, supporting leading organizations working in areas like responsible mining and coral conservation.
“The report documents our long-held commitment to sustainability and influencing others in the jewelry industry to make environmental conservation a critical part of their operations,” said Tiffany & Co.'s CEO, Michael J. Kowalski. “We are proud of our accomplishments and proud too of keeping our promise to our customers to redouble our efforts in protecting the natural world.”
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