Carbon Disclosure Project
Northern Trust is a signatory to and participant in the Carbon Disclosure Project, under which large institutional investors request information on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from more than 2,400 companies worldwide. Since 2006, Northern Trust has calculated and disclosed its GHG emissions yearly using available data and assumptions in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol of theWorld Resources Institute, and the World Business Council for Sustainable development. Our historic disclosures are available for review at www.cdproject.net.

Partners Think Green
Northern Trust's service groups have joined together to form the Partners Think Green (PTG) program. The aim of PTG is to promote innovative thinking and introduce more efficient procedures and technology to help us reduce our carbon footprint. The Partners Think Green team promotes good sustainability habits to integrate the principles of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.  By integrating these principles, into our lives both in work, and at home, we can minimize the effect our operations — and our lives — have on the environment. The Partners Think Green (PTG) team has established a network of "Think Green Champions" in our offices around the globe to assist in identifying opportunities for environmental improvement, measuring our success, reporting issues, and to raise awareness of sustainability issues to Northern Trust partners on a local level.

Energy and Material Conservation

• We are a member of ENERGY STAR, a U.S. government backed program which helps businesses and individuals protect the environment through superior energy efficiency.
• In our construction projects, we aim to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standard, and Northern Trust is a member of the U.S. Green Building Council.
• We estimate energy savings of more than 6.5 million kWh per year from various recent initiatives in our Chicago office locations. 

Recycling
Recycling efforts at three Northern Trust locations — including our world headquarters in downtown Chicago — have produced positive results. Our London team’s PTG recycling awareness programs have allowed the office to achieve a waste recycling rate of more than 80%. In the fit-out of our London office, we also selected recyclable products and materials wherever possible, installed a Vivreau drinking water system and chose furniture that is 80% recyclable.

Northern Trust receives EPA certificates of compliance showing we recycle our computer equipment, including desktops, laptops, server hard drives, printers, monitors and peripherals, through a contractor applying government standards.

Transportation
Our corporate travel intranet pages detail how partners can use public transportation to save energy. For locations where Northern Trust provides transportation, we work to make our operations and fleet as environmentally friendly as possible, including a switch to using biodiesel fuel in our Chicago shuttle buses.

Supply Chain
Our supply chain contracts ask our vendors to detail their environmental policies and initiatives, which we use to determine whether their sustainability goals and operations align with those of Northern Trust.

This upstream procurement policy helps us ensure environmental performance from our service and product suppliers. For instance, our stationers supply the highest possible useable percentage of recycled printer paper.

Food Supply Standards
Northern Trust’s food supply policy supports regional suppliers for fresh produce who will deliver value in terms of reduced food miles and enhanced product quality.

Our food supplies are traceable and ethical

• our catering facilities use fish sourced from sustainable sources in line with Marine Stewardship Council guidelines.
• When possible, our bottled water is sourced locally.
• Where available,we use fairly traded coffee, tea and sugar for our locations.
• To achieve our goals, we ask our catering managers to source regional and seasonal fruits and vegetables and use minimal, biodegradable, environmentally friendly packaging.

Our efforts have earned us praise from the Society for Food Service Management for helping to reduce landfill waste.