Overview

Ethics
Improve the visibility and brand of the Global Ethics & Compliance Office and ethics program internationally. Ensure accurate and timely communication to the business on ethics related metrics. Enhance training programs so that associates can complete ethics related requirements with greater ease. Formalize Global Ethics & Compliance Office operations.

Community

Offer an online solution for associates to identify volunteer opportunities in their local communities Change the Foundation’s approach to giving by launching the 2 Million & Change program, designed to allow associates to direct $2 million of Foundation funding Increase the breadth and depth of local organizations supported by Staples Foundation Reevaluate existing programs and partnerships and ensure maximum impact in local communities

Environment

Sell more sustainable products and services. Continue to improve sourcing, identification, and promotion of greener products to customers Reduce the use of packaging materials in the United States by 20 percent by 2020 from a 2011 baseline. 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 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

Launch a global mentoring program to include 1:1 and peer mentoring with a special emphasis on cross cultural mentoring Launch additional Associate Resource Groups and link the existing groups to remote associates Launch an Inclusion & Diversity training curriculum Launch Associate Resource Groups for military veterans and people with disabilities (2013) Create greater awareness by communicating more frequently and more in-depth about inclusion and diversity Continue to achieve 100% rating on Corporate Equality Index

Economic — Global	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
Total sales (billions USD)	25	24.55	24.28	23.08	19.37
Sales by Business Segment (Billions USD)
North American Retail	9.66	9.53	9.36	9.49	10.02
North American Delivery	10.06	9.85	9.64	8.93	6.61
International Operations	5.31	5.17	5.27	4.66	2.74
Sales by Geography (Billions USD)
United States	16.64	16.46	16.34	15.79	14.16
Canada	3.07	2.92	2.66	2.63	2.47
Other International	5.31	5.17	5.27	4.66	2.74
Gross profit (billions USD)	6.74	6.61	6.47	6.25	5.55
Net income (millions USD)	984.66	881.95	738.67	805.26	995.7
Income tax payments (millions USD)	475.3	468	398.8	428.8	559.6
Number of countries in which Staples operates	26	26	26	25	22
Total retail stores	2,295	2,281	2,243	2,218	2,038
United States	1,583	1,575	1,555	1,523	1,440
Canada	334	325	316	312	298
Europe	331	332	328	335	300
Other international	47	49	44	48	32
Worldwide associates	88,000	89,000	91,095	91,125	75,588
Full time (% of total)	59	59	59	63	57
Ethics & Governance — United States	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
Number of Staples® brand product suppliers audited	237	233	281	282	339
Number and % of audited Staples® brand product suppliers that were required to take corrective action	19 (8%)	33 (14.2%)	89 (31.6%)	156 (53%)	110 (30%)
Number and % of audited Staples® brand product suppliers with which Staples discontinued business relationships	0 (0%)	2 (0.9%)	5 (1.6%)	0	0
Environment — United States	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
Sustainable Products1
Estimated sales of products containing recycled content material	1,320	n/a	1,290	n/a	n/a
Estimated sales of products meeting third-party environmental standards/certifications	1,599	n/a	969	n/a	n/a
Estimated sales of FSC-certified products	426	n/a	189	n/a	n/a
Estimated sales of ENERGY STAR® qualified products	608	n/a	190	n/a	n/a
Recycling Services
Ink and toner cartridges (millions of units)2	67	63	55	22	23.8
Electronics recycled for customers (millions of pounds)	13.9	10.5	7.7	6.2	2.5
Sustainable Operations
Energy 2, 3
Total energy use (GJ)	3,559,100	3,866,000	3,916,800	3,907,000	4,130,000
Electricity use (mWh)	655,585	682,800	684,700	707,800	725,400
Electrical intensity across all locations (kWh per ft2)	11.5	11.7	11.9	12.4	15.2
Number and percentage of active facilities certified to ENERGY STAR®	286 (16%)	125 (7%)	n/a	n/a	n/a
Facility natural gas and propane use (MMBTU)	796,910	940,430	904,900	797,600	766,900
Diesel fuel for Staples fleet (MMBTU)	331,080	410,800	428,000	423,945	633,400
Greenhouse gas emissions 2, 3
Scope 1 (MtCO2e)	75,700	88,400	84,300	79,900	90,600
Scope 2 (MtCO2e)	326,300	342,100	381,700	393,900	412,200
Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions (MtCO2e, before reductions from offsets)	402,000	430,500	466,000	473,800	502,800
Total reductions from RECs and green power purchase offsets (MtCO2e)	334,000	139,000	143,600	95,200	114,400
Net GHG emissions (MtCO2e, after reductions from offsets)	68,000	291,500	322,400	378,600	388,400
GHG emissions intensity before reductions from offsets (kg CO2e per ft2)	7.03	7.37	8.1	8.3	10.5
GHG emissions intensity after reductions from offsets (kg CO2e per ft2)	1.19	4.99	5.6	6.6	8.1
Facilities
Total facility area (ft2)	57,193,275	58,388,239	57,491,000	57,020,000	47,790,000
Retail area (ft2)	35,760,510	35,637,889	34,688,000	34,342,000	32,775,000
Nonretail area (ft2)	21,432,765	22,127,000	22,750,349	22,678,000	15,015,000
Waste and Recycling
Waste to landfill or incinerator (short tons)4	29,920	34,300	34,170	32,320	30,160
Percentage of waste to landfill	90%	91%	n/a	n/a	n/a
Waste diverted to recycling (short tons)5	44,690	37,110	34,010	37,110	35,670
Rate of waste diversion to recycling (%)	60%	51%	50%	53%	54%
Waste generated per ft2 of facility area (pounds/ft2)	1.30	1.31	1.19	1.13	1.26
Water
Water use (millions of gallons)6	240.26	223.65	225.34	272.10	312.25
Water use intensity (gallons/ft2)	4.2	3.9	3.9	4.8	6.5
Community — Global	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
Total corporate giving, including Staples, Inc., Staples Foundation for Learning, global giving and in-kind giving (USD)	22,330,225	25,279,656	15,172,330	16,984,363	16,592,594
Value of in-kind donations (USD)3	14,788,314	20,120,235	6,503,572	8,828,879	9,128,869
Cash donations (USD)	7,541,911	5,159,421	8,668,759	8,155,483	7,463,725
Diversity	2011	2010	2009	2008	2007
% women in the U.S. workforce	44	44	44	46	46
% minorities in the U.S. workforce	32	32	32	32	32
Gender diversity in the United States and Canada (% women)	46	46	46	48	48
Average global annual employee turnover rate4	36	33	31	42	55
Salaried associate turnover rate globally (%)	14	12	12	15	19
Hourly associate turnover rate globally (%)	42	43	41	55	65

¹Complete data for 2010 is not available, and therefore will not be reported. For 2007-2009 and 2011, 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.

²To date, we have reported our GHG profile by Calendar Year to align with the US EPA Climate Leaders program. Following the program conclusion and also to align our GHG reporting approach with our reporting on other environmental impacts, we are reporting our GHG profile by Fiscal Year moving forward. As a result, we are re-reporting our 2010 data (previously CY data) to reflect FY data. This also supports our need to report data consistently throughout the timeframe for our new GHG reduction goal (to reduce emissions by 50% by 2020, using 2010 as a baseline). This updated profile also reflects modifications to our emissions factors (to align with GHG Protocol post-Climate Leaders) and corrections to the facilities included in the reporting scope (we have also updated 2010 square footage accordingly).

³Our 2011 energy use and greenhouse gas emissions figures have changed slightly since reporting data to the Carbon Disclosure Project due to corrections to facility energy use reports.

⁴We updated our waste to landfill number for 2010 to reflect additional data received.

⁵The 2011 recycling tonnage shown here includes metals, mixed paper, cardboard, plastics, glass and compost. If we were to include lightbulb and pallet recycling, our recyling rate would be approximatley 70%; however to enable year-over-year comparison, we did not include these materials as they were not captured in earlier years.

⁶The water use value reported for 2011 has increased since Staples reported to the Carbon Disclosure Project Water Program Questionnaire due to corrections made to facility water use reports.

Environment - Global1
Fiscal Year 2011	North America2	Asia Pacific	Europe3, 4	Global
Sustainable Products
Sales of eco-conscious products (millions of USD)5	$1,907	$166	$419	$2,491
Recycling Programs
Ink and toner cartridges (thousands of units)	69,861	33.8	1,669.6	71,565
Electronics recycled for customers (thousands of pounds)	21,046.4	35.5	450.7	21,532
Sustainable Operations
Energy & Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Total energy use (GJ)	4,314,630	48,910	640,090	5,003,600
Electricity Use (MWh)	788,845	11,410	80,860	881,120
Scope 1 greenhouse gas emissions (MtCO2-e)	91,960	590	20,240	112,250
Scope 2 greenhouse gas emissions (MtCO2-e)	359,630	9,640	34,520	403,800
Total Scope 1 and 2 emissions (MtCO2-e)	451,320	10,230	54,760	516,300
Waste and Recycling
Waste disposed (short tons)	34,150	2,050	2,730	38,910
Waste diverted for recycling (short tons)6	52,190	5,110	6,760	64,060
Water
Waste disposed (thousands of gallons)	266,100	n/a	17,840	283,930

To see a detailed International Performance Summary, download the .pdf version by clicking here.

¹ “0” indicates that this is not a relevant environmental metric for this region. “N/A” indicates data is not currently available to report for this impact in this region.

² Canada waste and water use data reflects Business Depot (Retail) data; it does not include Delivery data.

³ The 2011 ink and toner cartridge recycling number for Netherlands includes data for retail operations in Netherlands and Belgium. These are currently tracked together.

⁴ Where available, UK data includes Ireland and Northern Ireland data.

⁵ Our eco-conscious product criteria vary by market, but are typically characterized by 30% or more recycled content materials and/or meeting specific third-party environmental standards.

⁶ Recycling volumes include glass, cardboard, metals, organics, plastics and paper.