Long before the concept of sustainability came to the forefront of corporate consciousness, 3M served as a leader for reducing its impact on the environment while conserving resources through its breakthrough Pollution Prevention Pays program. What began as a pioneering concept more than 30 years ago continues today, because sustainability is integral to 3M's values.
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Sustainable Brands Releases Full Program for Annual New Metrics Conference
3 years ago - SAN FRANCISCO, October 7, 2016 – Sustainable Brands® recently announced the full program for New Metrics’16, scheduled for November 14-16 in Boston, MA. Drawing together over 400 global business leaders, the conference will focus on the emerging methods for identifying, measuring, and quantifying new forms of business risk and value, as well as include strategies for communicating the impact of that value to stakeholders.
New 3M Petrifilm Plate Launched to Help Food Companies Reduce Spoilage and Minimize Waste
3 years ago - In food processing, lactic acid bacteria can be friend or foe. Kept in check, these organisms help produce fermented foods ranging from smooth yogurts to crunchy pickles – and can even be leveraged for probiotic purposes. But under low oxygen, low temperature and acidic conditions, the bacteria can cause spoilage, discoloration, bloated packages and textures, odors and flavors that displease customers, trigger recalls and cause food waste.
3M Releases 2016 Sustainability Report
3 years ago - As the global population marches toward 9 billion people, it is creating an even more urgent need to address sustainability challenges –from air pollution and water shortages to food safety and clean energy. 3M sees an opportunity to collectively overcome these challenges through innovation and collaboration. As a company rooted in scientific exploration 3M partners with customers and communities to make the world cleaner, safer and stronger. 3M’s investments in sustainable technologies result in solutions such as glass bubbles that make cars lighter and more fuel efficient, films that make smartphones and buildings more energy efficient, and low global warming potential immersion fluid that cools data centers.
3M, Aveda, Target Among Members of New Coalition Aimed at Advancing Circular Economy in U.S.
3 years ago - Today, more than 25 businesses and organizations announce the launch of the Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition, a business-led public-private partnership harnessing their collective expertise to advance the next frontier of corporate sustainability – the circular economy.
'If You Want to Go Far, Go Together': Brands Tell Tales of Collaborating to Activate Purpose
3 years ago - Day three of SB’16 San Diego got underway with Mark Lee, Executive Director of SustainAbility, mapping the past decade since the start of Sustainable Brands — from Hurricane Katrina and General Electric’s launch of ecomagination in 2005, to Unilever’s launch of its Sustainable Living Plan in 2010 and the United Nations’ Rio+20 Conference in 2012.
New Understanding Around the ROI of a Sustainable Supply Chain
3 years ago - When it comes to developing sustainability programs, most brands begin by adding: by introducing “green” practices to their workplace or a recycling component to their manufacturing process. But to truly have impact, sustainability practitioners should create purpose that is built-in, not bolted-on, across both business and brand strategy. How do we shift from bolting on sustainability to building it into the business? And what inspires this shift in the first place? To truly build in sustainability, we must look at the back-end of product creation: the supply chain.
Unilever Ranks Highest in Gartner's 2016 Supply Chain Top 25
3 years ago - The research firm Gartner Inc. has released the findings from its annual Supply Chain Top 25, identifying supply chain leaders and highlighting their best practices. Analysts announced the results May 18 at the Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference in Phoenix, Arizona, USA. For the first time, Unilever topped the ranking, followed by McDonald's, Amazon, Intel, and a newcomer to the top five, the Swedish fashion retailer H&M. Five new companies made the Supply Chain Top 25 this year, with Schneider Electric, BASF, and BMW joining the list for the first time, and HP and GlaxoSmithKline rejoining after several years. (See below for the full list.)
3M Health Care Again Wins Practice Greenhealth "Champion for Change" Award for Sustainability
3 years ago - Practice Greenhealth, a leader in promoting environmental stewardship, has again presented a “Champion for Change” Award to 3M Health Care for the company’s success in greening its operations and for helping customers improve their environmental footprint. “We are thrilled to be recognized a second time with this prestigious award for sustainability,” said Ann Meitz, Sustainability Director, 3M Health Care Business Group. “At 3M we work hard to apply science to solve customer needs every day, whether it is to help improve patient outcomes, reduce waste or use less energy.”
Why a Circular Economy Is Key to Sustainable Development (and Why Business Must Lead the Way)
4 years ago - This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post, "What's Working: Sustainable Development Goals," in conjunction with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The proposed set of goals will be the subject of discussion at the UN General Assembly meeting on Sept. 25-27, 2015 in New York; they cover 17 key areas of development — including poverty, hunger, health, education, and gender equality, among many others.
Google, BMW, Disney, Microsoft Once Again Top List of Best CSR Reputations
4 years ago - Reputation Institute has released its annual Global CSR RepTrak® 100, which highlights the companies that have the best reputations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) among the general public in 15 countries. Google tops the ranking for the second year in a row, with a significant lead over all other companies in the ranking.
The Results Are In: The 2015 Dow Jones Sustainability Indices
4 years ago - It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for: S&P Dow Jones Indices, one of the world’s leading providers of financial market indices, and RobecoSAM, the investment specialist focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing, today announced the results of the annual Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (“DJSI”) review.The components list for the DJSI will be published on the Sustainability Indices website on Monday, September 14, 2015. All changes are effective on Monday, September 21, 2015.
New Online Marketplace Will Allow US Companies to Exchange Underutilized Materials
4 years ago - The National Materials Marketplace, a new joint pilot project led by the Corporate Eco Forum (CEF), US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), brings together more than 20 major companies with operations in the United States, helping them identify ways to reuse or exchange undervalued materials via an online database, and establish new circular supply chains.
'The Art of Communicating Complex Ideas Simply': How Organizations Are Inspiring Consumer Action
4 years ago - SB ’15 San Diego’s final day plenaries centered on what many would describe as the Holy Grail of sustainability engagement: reaching people’s hearts and minds to drive sustainable change. MC’d by Annie Longsworth, founder and CEO of The Siren Agency, the day’s speakers explored topics as varied and interconnected as employee and consumer engagement, stakeholder partnerships and activist visual art.
3M Announces New 2025 Sustainability Goals
4 years ago - 3M announced today its 2015 Sustainability Report, which outlines the company’s sustainability progress and new goals for the next 10 years.The report highlights 3M’s new 2025 sustainability goals focused on addressing significant global sustainability challenges involving raw materials, water, energy and climate, health and safety, as well as education and development. The goals reflect 3M’s expanding sustainability strategy by placing a greater focus on supporting the environmental goals of its customers and the communities in which it operates.
Challenges Can Help Foster Innovation in Sustainability, Environmental Protection
4 years ago - There have been many high-profile commitments by corporations to end deforestation in their supply chains and to transition to sources that preserve these valuable forest resources. And while most will agree that deforestation remains one of the greatest contributors to global climate change, not all are in agreement on how exactly businesses will make this transition in a way that continues to meet the demands of their customers.
3M and ForestEthics End Multi-Year Conflict Over Paper Sourcing Policy
4 years ago - After an often-heated six years of confrontation between activist group ForestEthics and paper and packaging giant 3M, the conflict finally came to an end yesterday as 3M announced its new paper and wood pulp sourcing policy. ForestEthics, which has been critical of the corporation’s sourcing policy, has applauded its new commitment to tracing its virgin wood fiber and ensuring it comes from renewable sources.
Closing the Loop on Recycling: Unilever, P&G Aim to Give Communities Greater Access to Recycling Programs
4 years ago - Regardless of where we live, we’re neighbors — sharing this grand global space, and thus all of its sustainability challenges and opportunities.Therefore, we believe we also share in the responsibility to develop solutions, and to work together when our combined resources can have a positive impact that none of us could achieve on our own.
Setting Yourself Up for Failure? The Challenges of Environmental Target-Setting
5 years ago - Companies often set targets for memorable milestones and landmark years, such as 2015 or 2020, as this makes it easier to communicate and refer to them — there are 17 companies in the FTSE 100 that will be held to account in 2015 for meeting the targets that they themselves publicly set for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Cisco, 3M, JFW Commit to White House Plan to Promote Solar Power and Energy Efficiency
5 years ago - Cisco, 3M, Kimberly-Clark and Jackson Family Wines have announced commitments to deploy onsite solar energy and improve energy efficiency as part of an Obama Administration call to action.In total, 50 companies, states, communities and multifamily housing leaders from across the country have announced commitments representing more than 35 megawatts of solar deployed – enough energy to power thousands of homes – as well as energy efficiency investments that will lower energy bills for more than 400 million square feet of buildings.
From Conflicted to Regenerated in 4 Days: A Reflection on the Activists of SB '14 San Diego
5 years ago - If I had written this last Tuesday, it would have been titled “Environmental activists stoop to new low: Spend money to rent boat to illegally trespass to protest sustainability conference.” However, after three days with thought leaders in corporate sustainability, my sentiments have shifted.