WASTE NOT -
A recent report by UK-based charity CHEMTrust has linked the recycling of plastic components of electrical and electronic products to dangerous human health risks, creating obstacles for the recycling industry and the widespread adoption of a circular economy.
PRESS RELEASE -
BATON ROUGE, LA, and GEISMAR, LA, April 6, 2017 – Louisiana State University (LSU) officials joined BASF executives in the public unveiling of the BASF Sustainable Living Laboratory on campus. The Lab, which is the first-of-its-kind at LSU and in the Southeast region, is an innovative space that promotes problem-based teaching and research focused on sustainable solutions to meet global challenges. As part of BASF's workforce development and science education efforts in the region, the Lab is the result of a $1 million donation BASF made to LSU Foundation and the College of Engineering first announced in 2014.
COLLABORATION -
Following the launch of Applied DNA Sciences’s CertainT platform that utilizes molecular tags to certify authenticity and origins of products, AkzoNobel, Advanced Biochemical Thailand Co. and EY have introduced a new online tool that allows businesses, for the first time, to use e-certification to track bio-based content along the chemical value chain.
CLEANTECH -
This week, two more multinationals joined the ranks of companies energizing their sustainability agendas with bold commitments to power their entire operations with renewables.
LEADERSHIP -
The textile and apparel industries are widely known to have considerable environmental and social impacts on both local and global levels. The leather industry is no exception — in India, approximately 2.5 million workers are exposed to poor working conditions that violate their human rights and negatively affect their health.
PRESS RELEASE -
BASF SE and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (NYSE: HPE) today announced that the companies will collaborate to develop one of the world’s largest supercomputers for industrial chemical research at BASF's Ludwigshafen headquarters this year. Based on the latest generation of HPE Apollo 6000 systems, the new supercomputer will drive the digitalization of BASF's worldwide research.
CLEANTECH -
Textile dyeing accounts for one fifth of all industrial wastewater pollution generated worldwide and much of it, particularly in developing countries in Asia, goes untreated. Now, China is employing electron beams to treat effluent from textile dyeing plants, ushering in a new era for radiation technology.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, only 2 percent of the 78 million tons of plastic used each year for packaging is actually recycled. The remaining 98 percent finds its way into landfills, incineration plants and the environment. New innovations and initiatives from across the U.S. and Canada, however, are offering new solutions to tackle the ever-growing plastics problem.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Policymakers must limit chemicals entering the material cycle and adapt existing legislation in order to protect human health and the environment from toxic substances in a circular economy, say ClientEarth and the European Environmental Bureau (EEB) in a new report.
The NGOs indicate that the current legal framework has failed to ensure information about dangerous chemicals is diffused throughout the whole material cycle and potential subsequent lifecycles.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Increasing economic benefits while reducing global-warming potential: How products from BASF’s Master Builders Solutions® range help achieve this is the focus of the new Europe-wide campaign, “Quantified Sustainable Benefits – Reduce your Footprint and Boost Your Bottom Line.” Through a series of ads and a dedicated website, BASF’s Master Builders Solutions experts, together with European customers, present selected cases that demonstrate how superior chemistry enables customers to increase their productivity while decreasing their operational costs and carbon footprint.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
While recycling most certainly plays an important role in the shift to the development of a more circular, sustainable economy, it largely focuses on a product or material’s end of life. But recent initiatives and technological breakthroughs are helping more companies design impacts out of their products’ life cycles.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Finding new post-consumer uses and solutions for products is critical for making the shift towards a more circular economy, but more and more companies are turning their focus to the early stages of product production and development, effectively addressing the sustainability question before it becomes a problem.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Retail giant Target has announced its commitment to reducing harmful chemicals from its products and investing in green chemistry with the release of a new chemical strategy that covers its entire value chain, operations and products. The goal is to be transparent, proactive and innovative when it comes to managing chemicals and, where necessary, developing alternatives.
CLEANTECH -
Today, in response to a petition by 19 environmental and open-government groups, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released proposed regulations that will require natural gas processing plants to start publicly reporting the toxic chemicals they release.
CLEANTECH -
Whether it be turning food scraps into cold-pressed juices or transforming PET waste into raw materials or converting beer waste water into batteries — just a few of the latest examples of the circular economy at work — companies are increasingly finding unique ways to transform and repurpose their waste, byproducts and emissions.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
It’s easy for the concepts of Cradle to Cradle design and a circular economy to become shorthand for recycling, but both are much more complex than that.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
According to a new Pure Strategies study, several billion was earned in 2015 from the sustainability efforts of 153 survey respondents, signaling a new way of defining sources of business value. Taking inspiration from sustainability’s positive performance, companies should position their programs to generate the greatest business benefits and to measure and celebrate the gains.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Columbia Sportswear says its new OutDry Extreme ECO Jacket, which hit shelves last week, marks a milestone in sustainability - as the first high-performance, environmentally friendly, breathable, waterproof jacket made without the use of a common synthetic additive known as perfluorinated compounds (PFCs).
As part of the launch, Columbia has partnered with hip-hop artist and environmental advocate Macklemore to help raise awareness on the impact that PFCs can have on the environment. Macklemore (aka Ben Haggerty), who finds inspiration and solace in the forests in the Pacific Northwest and other natural places around the world, shares his thoughts on environmentally responsible rainwear in a new video:
PRESS RELEASE -
Eastman Chemical Company has been named America’s Most JUST Company in the chemical industry, according to JUST Capital and Forbes magazine’s inaugural “JUST 100 List,” which for the first time ranks the publicly traded companies in the U.S. that perform best on the things Americans care most about. The rankings are based on one of the largest surveys ever conducted on attitudes towards corporate behavior, involving 50,000 Americans over the last 18 months. This year’s list ranks U.S companies against their peers within 32 major industries. In future years, Forbes and JUST Capital will rank companies across industries.