Overview

Tracking our performance is one of our most important functions. It gives our company and our stakeholders the information and tools needed to make critical decisions today and tomorrow.

Goals

Ethics
Begin using scorecards in 2011 to measure associates' completion rates for ethics trainings, globally by business unit. Develop more sophisticated metrics and monitoring systems to track progress against specific desired ethics outcomes and ensure that associates are informed, engaged and using all of the ethics tools and resources available to them. Use the information obtained with these systems to identify new ways to drive and assess organizational improvements to help Staples meet its overall corporate objectives. Launch a program of quarterly Webinars in 2011 with human resources personnel and other stakeholders globally to strengthen the Global Ethics Office’s ability to share information and best practices. Issue a new Cultural Diagnostic Survey in the fall of 2011 to a representative sample of associates worldwide, with the aim of better understanding associates’ level of awareness of ethical resources and their level of engagement in creating a culture of ethics at Staples. Launch a Code of Ethics refresher that will include an annual Conflict of Interest Disclosure. Finalize the content of the updated Social Accountability audit to support the new Supplier Code of Conduct; roll out updated audit provisions in the latter part of 2011.

Ethics

Begin using scorecards in 2011 to measure associates' completion rates for ethics trainings, globally by business unit.
Develop more sophisticated metrics and monitoring systems to track progress against specific desired ethics outcomes and ensure that associates are informed, engaged and using all of the ethics tools and resources available to them. Use the information obtained with these systems to identify new ways to drive and assess organizational improvements to help Staples meet its overall corporate objectives.
Launch a program of quarterly Webinars in 2011 with human resources personnel and other stakeholders globally to strengthen the Global Ethics Office’s ability to share information and best practices.
Issue a new Cultural Diagnostic Survey in the fall of 2011 to a representative sample of associates worldwide, with the aim of better understanding associates’ level of awareness of ethical resources and their level of engagement in creating a culture of ethics at Staples.
Launch a Code of Ethics refresher that will include an annual Conflict of Interest Disclosure.
Finalize the content of the updated Social Accountability audit to support the new Supplier Code of Conduct; roll out updated audit provisions in the latter part of 2011.

Community
Continue the evaluation of community initiatives to clarify and more strategically orient and align Staples’ community relations investments. Develop and implement a global system to improve tracking of associate involvement in community service activities. Develop and implement a system in 2012 to improve tracking of company-wide global charitable giving. Establish a system to more effectively share knowledge across Staples’ global operations and convene a global council in 2011 to facilitate program alignment and best practice sharing.

Community

Continue the evaluation of community initiatives to clarify and more strategically orient and align Staples’ community relations investments.
Develop and implement a global system to improve tracking of associate involvement in community service activities.
Develop and implement a system in 2012 to improve tracking of company-wide global charitable giving.
Establish a system to more effectively share knowledge across Staples’ global operations and convene a global council in 2011 to facilitate program alignment and best practice sharing.

Environment
Sell more sustainable products and services. Develop and implement more robust systems to measure sales of greener products and report on sales, starting in 2012. Offer easy customer recycling solutions By 2020, recycle 100 million ink and toner cartridges each year across all operations. By 2020, recycle 40 million pounds of eWaste each year globally. Eliminate operational waste. Reduce packaging material use in the United States by 20 percent by 2020 from a 2010 baseline. Reduce waste to landfill by 25 percent globally by 2020 with 2010 as a baseline. Maximize energy efficiency and renewable energy. Reduce the electrical intensity of our global operations by 25 percent by 2020 from a 2010 baseline. Ensure that 50 percent of our active locations in the United States achieve ENERGY STAR® registration by 2020. Improve Staples’ U.S. fleet fuel economy 15 percent from the 2010 baseline by 2015. Reduce global carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2020 from a 2010 baseline.

Environment

Sell more sustainable products and services.
- Develop and implement more robust systems to measure sales of greener products and report on sales, starting in 2012.
Offer easy customer recycling solutions
- By 2020, recycle 100 million ink and toner cartridges each year across all operations.
- By 2020, recycle 40 million pounds of eWaste each year globally.
Eliminate operational waste.
- Reduce packaging material use in the United States by 20 percent by 2020 from a 2010 baseline.
- Reduce waste to landfill by 25 percent globally by 2020 with 2010 as a baseline.
Maximize energy efficiency and renewable energy.
- Reduce the electrical intensity of our global operations by 25 percent by 2020 from a 2010 baseline.
- Ensure that 50 percent of our active locations in the United States achieve ENERGY STAR® registration by 2020.
- Improve Staples’ U.S. fleet fuel economy 15 percent from the 2010 baseline by 2015.
- Reduce global carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2020 from a 2010 baseline.

Diversity
Expand the “Business Woman of the Year” competition, which originated in Australia, to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in 2011 — 2012. Expand Associate Research Groups (ARGs) to additional groups and geographic areas, and promote participation in ARGs among associates based in the field. Increase women and minority representation in the exempt employee, management, executive and senior leadership ranks. Extend mentoring and other employee development programs to more locations worldwide.

Diversity

Expand the “Business Woman of the Year” competition, which originated in Australia, to the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom in 2011 — 2012.
Expand Associate Research Groups (ARGs) to additional groups and geographic areas, and promote participation in ARGs among associates based in the field.
Increase women and minority representation in the exempt employee, management, executive and senior leadership ranks.
Extend mentoring and other employee development programs to more locations worldwide.

Performance Summary

Economic — Global	2010	2009	2008	2007
Total sales (billions USD)	24.55	24.28	23.08	19.37
Sales by Business Segment (Billions USD)
North American Retail	9.53	9.36	9.49	10.02
North American Delivery	9.85	9.64	8.93	6.61
International Operations	5.17	5.27	4.66	2.74
Sales by Geography (Billions USD)
United States	16.46	16.34	15.79	14.16
Canada	2.92	2.66	2.63	2.47
Other International	5.17	5.27	4.66	2.74
Gross profit (billions USD)	6.61	6.47	6.25	5.55
Net income (millions USD)	881.95	738.67	805.26	995.7
Income tax payments (millions USD)	468	398.8	428.8	559.6
Number of countries in which Staples operates	26	26	25	22
Total retail stores	2,281	2,243	2,218	2,038
United States	1,575	1,555	1,523	1,440
Canada	325	316	312	298
Europe	332	328	335	300
Other international	49	44	48	32
Worldwide associates	89,000	91,095	91,125	75,588
Full time (% of total)	59	59	63	57
Ethics & Governance — United States	2010	2009	2008	2007
Number of Staples® brand product suppliers audited	233	281	282	339
Number and % of audited Staples® brand product suppliers that were required to take corrective action	33 (14.2%)	89 (31.6%)	156 (53%)	110 (30%)
Number and % of audited Staples® brand product suppliers with which Staples discontinued business relationships	2 (0.9%)	5 (1.6%)	0	0
Environment — United States	2010	2009	2008	2007
Sustainable Products¹
Estimated sales of products containing recycled content material		1,290	n/a	n/a
Estimated sales of products meeting third-party environmental standards/certifications		969	n/a	n/a
Estimated sales of FSC-certified products		189	n/a	n/a
Estimated sales of ENERGY STAR® qualified products		190	n/a	n/a
Recycling Services
Ink and toner cartridges (millions of units)²	63	55	22	23.8
Electronics recycled for customers (millions of pounds)	10.5	7.7	6.2	2.5
Sustainable Operations
Energy (calendar year)
Total energy use (GJ)	3,661,600	3,916,800	3,907,000	4,130,000
Electricity use (mWh)	638,600	684,700	707,800	725,400
Electrical intensity across all locations (kWh per ft²)	11.2	11.9	12.4	15.2
Number and percentage of active facilities certified to ENERGY STAR®	125 (7%)	n/a	n/a	n/a
Facility natural gas and propane use (MMBTU)	871,300	904,900	797,600	766,900
Diesel fuel for Staples fleet (MMBTU)	410,800	428,000	423,945	633,400
Greenhouse gas emissions (calendar year)
Scope 1 (MtCO₂e)	79,000	84,300	79,900	90,600
Scope 2 (MtCO₂e)	342,300	381,700	393,900	412,200
Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions (MtCO₂e, before reductions from offsets)	421,300	466,000	473,800	502,800
Total reductions from RECs and green power purchase offsets (MtCO₂e)	134,400	143,600	95,200	114,400
Net GHG emissions (MtCO₂e, after reductions from offsets)	286,900	322,400	378,600	388,400
GHG emissions intensity before reductions from offsets (kg CO₂e per ft²)	7.4	8.1	8.3	10.5
GHG emissions intensity after reductions from offsets (kg CO₂e per ft²)	5.0	5.6	6.6	8.1
Facilities
Total facility area (ft²)	57,024,000	57,491,000	57,020,000	47,790,000
Retail area (ft²)	34,897,000	34,688,000	34,342,000	32,775,000
Nonretail area (ft²)	22,127,000	22,803,000	22,678,000	15,015,000
Waste and Recycling
Waste to landfill or incinerator (short tons)	37,480	34,170	32,320	30,160
Percentage of waste to landfill	91%	n/a	n/a	n/a
Waste diverted to recycling (short tons)	37,110	34,010	37,110	35,670
Rate of waste diversion to recycling (%)	50%	50%	53%	54%
Waste generated per ft² of facility area (pounds/ft²)	1.31	1.19	1.13	1.26
Water
Water use (millions of gallons)	223.65	225.34	272.10	312.25
Water use intensity (gallons/ft²)	3.9	3.9	4.8	6.5
Community — Global	2010	2009	2008	2007
Total corporate giving, including Staples, Inc., Staples Foundation for Learning, global giving and in-kind giving (USD)	25,279,656	15,172,330	16,984,363	16,592,594
Value of in-kind donations (USD)³	20,120,235	6,503,572	8,828,879	9,128,869
Cash donations (USD)	5,159,421	8,668,759	8,155,483	7,463,725
Diversity	2010	2009	2008	2007
% women in the U.S. workforce	44	44	46	46
% minorities in the U.S. workforce	32	32	32	32
Gender diversity in the United States and Canada (% women)	46	46	48	48
Average global annual employee turnover rate⁴	33	31	42	55
Salaried associate turnover rate globally (%)	12	12	15	19
Hourly associate turnover rate globally (%)	43	41	55	65

¹ Figures for 2010 are still under review. Product sales are in millions of USD. Sales are based on United States sales of products to Retail, Staples Advantage® and Staples Business Delivery® customers for products that are currently identified in Staples' product systems as having one or more of the environmental attributes specified. Recycled content sales include sales of all products containing pre- or post-consumer recycled content. Sales information does not include Quill, Staples Promotional Products®, Business Interiors by Staples(sm), wholesaler-fulfilled items and certain other lines of business. Data for prior years is not available.

² The 2010 ink and toner recycling value was adjusted from what was originally reported in the Staples 2010 Annual Report (61 million) due to information arriving after the release date for the Annual Report.

³ Total giving for FY 2010 includes a one-time donation of excess inventory from the Corporate Express business

⁴ U.S., Canada, South America and India data do not include layoffs, location closures or seasonal employment. Other international locations may include such data.