PRESS RELEASE -
Six innovative technologies from Dow, the world’s leading materials science company, were recognized with R&D 100 awards on November 16, 2018. The R&D 100 Awards, a signature program of R&D Magazine, is designed to identify and celebrate the top 100 revolutionary technologies introduced during the past year.
WASTE NOT -
The global movement to end textile waste continues, with the release of outer- and undergarments from new and established brands alike.
PRESS RELEASE -
Now in its second year, the 2018 Africa Innovation Challenge is open to innovators and entrepreneurs from Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Nigeria & Ghana among other African countries.
The challenge focuses on identifying scalable and sustainable solutions to six major health and environmental problems for Africa’s population.
Winning Africa-based innovators and startups are eligible for mentorship and US$50,000 in financial support and resources to help bring their ideas to market
PRESS RELEASE -
In another step toward promoting sustainability and the bio-economy, DuPont Biomaterials has elevated its partnership with The Ellen MacArthur Foundation by joining the organization’s Circular Economy 100 (CE100) initiative. The pre-competitive innovation program brings together corporates, governments and cities, academic institutions, emerging innovators and affiliates in a unique multi-stakeholder platform to learn and collaborate for a circular economy.
PRESS RELEASE -
Braskem, the Americas’ largest resin producer and the world’s leading biopolymer producer, has defined a series of global initiatives to boost the Circular Economy in the production chain of manufactured plastic goods.
“We are firmly committed to the goal of helping to transform the linear economy into a Circular Economy, effectively demonstrating our commitment to sustainable development,” said Fernando Musa, Braskem’s CEO. “By establishing a series of global initiatives, engaging in voluntary commitments and expressing publicly its global positioning for the Circular Economy, Braskem is inviting clients, its partners in the value chain, its Team Members and society in general to intensify their joint quest for innovative and sustainable solutions using plastic.”
PRESS RELEASE -
Tide has reimagined its classic liquid detergent with a new Eco-Box package containing an ultra-concentrated formula designed for eCommerce. The Tide Eco-Box has been in development for the past year and was revealed today at P&G’s headquarters in Cincinnati.
The Tide Eco-Box arrives on a consumer’s doorstep in a sealed, shipping-safe cardboard box. Inside the box is a sealed bag of ultra-compacted Tide liquid laundry detergent. To use, consumers peel off the cardboard flap to reveal a dosing cup and a new “no-drip” twist tap. To make dosing simpler on flat surfaces, the box includes a pull-out stand to raise the height of the box so the cup fits easily beneath the tap.
PRESS RELEASE -
As part of its sustainable plastics vision, PepsiCo, Inc. (PepsiCo) today announced a new goal to strive to use 25 percent recycled content in its plastic packaging by 2025.
PepsiCo aims to achieve this goal by collaborating with suppliers and partners, helping to increase consumer education, fostering cross-industry and public-private partnerships, and advocating for improved recycling infrastructure and regulatory reform, all of which are required to realize our ambition. The goal includes an aim specific to PET (polyethylene terephthalate) beverage bottles to achieve 33% recycled PET content by 2025.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Last week at Sustainable Brands’ New Metrics ’18 conference in Philadelphia, PA, over 300 delegates from brands, NGOs, strategists and practitioners across sectors gathered to share the newest credible tools and solutions for assessing the ROI of Sustainable Business.
NEW METRICS -
Last week at Sustainable Brands’ New Metrics ’18 conference in Philadelphia, PA, over 300 delegates from brands, NGOs, strategists and practitioners across sectors gathered to share their latest tools and findings regarding measuring the risks and impacts of previously unmeasured forms of value, the newest credible tools and solutions for assessing the ROI of Sustainable Business.
NEW METRICS -
This week at Sustainable Brands’ New Metrics ’18 conference in Philadelphia, PA, over 300 delegates from brands, NGOs, strategists and practitioners across sectors gathered to share their latest tools and findings regarding measuring the risks and impacts of previously unmeasured forms of value, the newest credible tools and solutions for assessing the ROI of Sustainable Business.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
This week, circular economy experts from over 20 countries convened in Scotland as Glasgow hosted the third annual Circular Economy Hotspot. Glasgow used the occasion to announce its intention to become Scotland’s first circular city — this will involve Glasgow City Council publishing the country’s first circular economy route map with a key target to power 15 percent of the city’s homes with renewable energy by 2030.
PRESS RELEASE -
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) earlier this week presented UPS with a SmartWay Excellence award, which recognizes leading carriers who have made significant contributions to reducing the impact of freight transportation on air quality.
“UPS is committed to delivering goods to people in the most sustainable way possible,” said Tamara Barker, chief sustainability officer, vice president of environmental affairs and domestic plant engineering at UPS. “We are honored to be recognized by the EPA for our accomplishments and look forward to continuing our work to create smarter and cleaner communities.”
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
If you’ve been around the building products industry in the last five years, you’ve probably encountered conversations about transparency — around material health, chemical hazards, environmental impacts, you name it.
To be fair, if you were around the building products industry 10 years ago, no one was really talking about transparency (at least not like today). The buzzword of the day back then was recycled content. Before that, it was indoor air quality. And over time those attributes have become commonplace for most manufacturers; transparency is the next attribute to achieve.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Earlier this month, Nike announced the winners of its Circular Innovation Challenge, which called for new products using Nike Grind — Nike's ground-up post-factory and post-consumer materials — and new technologies to advance footwear recycling.
WASTE NOT -
Rubicon Global — a technology company providing waste, recycling and smart city solutions to businesses and governments worldwide — along with the University of Pennsylvania Wharton Business School’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) and surplus food donation-management platform Goodr, tonight announced the list of inaugural “Waste Fit Champions,” a program designed to recognize the best sustainability leaders that are cutting down on waste, improving rec
PRESS RELEASE -
Plastic waste and pollution have captured the attention of the public, governments, and businesses around the world. The search for solutions has started, and there is growing recognition that quick-fixes that address the symptoms is not enough. To effectively switch off the tap on the plastic problem, a systemic shift to tackle the root causes is needed.
To further accelerate the sense of urgency and momentum gaining around marine plastic litter, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has launched the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.
COLLABORATION -
NOTE: This article was updated on October 30, 2018 at 11:45am ET.
A Global Commitment to eradicate plastic waste and pollution at the source has been signed by 250 organisations including many of the world’s largest packaging producers, brands, retailers and recyclers, as well as governments and NGOs. For some signatories, the Global Commitment is just one facet of their plan to overhaul their approach to plastic.
The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment is led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF), in collaboration with UN Environment, and was officially unveiled at the Our Ocean Conference in Bali today.
NEW METRICS -
Novo Nordisk is the first global company to have completed a Future-Fit self-assessment and to have the results independently assured. In advance of Sustainable Brands’ New Metrics ’18 event next week in Philadelphia, I sat down with Cora Olsen, Global Lead on Integrated Reporting at Novo Nordisk, to discuss what the company learned from this process.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
This week, building on news that HP, Inc and IKEA joined a global consortium working to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains, the public and private sector made further strides on creating a circular economy for packaging around the world.