Stories About Consumer Products
Found 350 stories. Page 17 of 18.
Activist Groups Challenging Signet to Show Its Supply Chain Some Love This Valentine's Day
BEHAVIOR CHANGE - Despite being one of the most popular gifts for a loved one on Valentine’s Day, jewelry has been notorious for coming at a social and environmental cost that goes well beyond the price tag. Now Signet, the world’s largest jewelry retailer, is being challenged by social and environmental groups across the world to demand that its major diamond and gold supplier, Rio Tinto, clean up its act this Valentine’s Day.
Multi-Sector Gathering Calls for Harmonized Framework for Shifting to Sustainable Product Portfolios
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Last week, Sustainable Brands participated in and helped support an important meeting in Berlin, hosted by BASF, entitled "Steering a Portfolio Toward Sustainability." A gathering of almost 150 chemistry industry stakeholders — including customers and colleagues such as DOW, AkzoNobel, DSM, Eastman Chemical, Solvay and Sabic — participated in the day-and-a-half-long discussion.
Report Highlights CPG, Food Companies Leading and Lagging on Better Packaging
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have issued a new report examining packaging used by 47 fast food/quick service restaurant (QSR) chains, beverage companies, and consumer good/grocery companies and highlights the leaders and laggards in terms of its recyclability.
Unilever Achieves Zero Waste to Landfill Across Global Factory Network, Creating €200M in Savings, Hundreds of Jobs
THE NEXT ECONOMY - Consumer goods giant Unilever today announced it has achieved a key sustainability target of sending zero non-hazardous* waste to landfill from its global factory network. The company says the milestone not only represents a significant step towards its ambition to double its size while reducing its environmental impact, the effort has eliminated more than €200m in costs and created hundreds of jobs – once again proving the business case for sweeping sustainability initiatives.
Report: Consumer Products, Manufacturing Sectors Enjoying Best Financial Returns on Solar
CLEANTECH - Consumer products, manufacturing and heavy industry sectors are getting the best financial returns on solar power—the most popular renewable power technology for corporates—according to a new report by RE100, an initiative of The Climate Group in partnership with CDP.
Let's Take the B.S. Out of Food Marketing
MARKETING AND COMMS - As I stared at a seemingly endless array of packaged chicken parts in a high-end grocery store recently, a mother of two strode up to the refrigerated section and decisively grabbed a package that promised “All-Natural Free-Range” chicken. “Yes!” she exclaimed to her kids. “Here they are!”
Valio Debuts First Product Using Tetra Pak’s 100% Plant-Based Carton Package
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Finnish dairy producer Valio has become the first company in the world to sell products to consumers in carton packaging made entirely from plant-based materials. Consumers are able to buy these packages at retail shops in Finland beginning this week.
BASF, Haier, Astronautics Corp Unveil Next-Gen Refrigeration Technology at CES 2015
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Among the dizzying array of potentially game-changing innovations on display this week at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, BASF — along with Haier, a global manufacturer of household appliances, and Astronautics Corporation of America — are presenting a proof‑of‑concept wine cooler refrigerated by a magnetocaloric heat pump.
Revlon Agrees to Remove Some Dangerous Chemicals From Its Products
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Late last month, global cosmetics giant Revlon announced it will remove some long-chain parabens and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals from its products, in response to a petition circulated last year by the non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) that to date has rallied support from over 109,000 consumers.Long-chain parabens can act as estrogens and have been linked to endocrine disruption. Formaldehyde is a potent allergen that has been classified as a carcinogen.EWG executive director Heather White called the move a step in the right direction.
Proving the #BusinessCase: P&G Exceeds 2 Sustainability Goals; One Creates $1.6B in Value
BUSINESS CASE - This week, Procter & Gamble published its 16th annual sustainability report, which reveals how the CPG giant made far-reaching — and as it turns out, lucrative — improvements to its global operations years ahead of schedule.
Drones: Sustainability's New Wingmen?
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Drones have already disintermediated the aerospace/defense industry and have crossed the threshold from commercial to consumer, delivering to the average person the world’s most powerful personal computer. The potential for good in industrial agriculture, wildlife conservation and animal poaching, monitoring of factory farms, and prevention and early detection of forest fires is unprecedented.Drones can make granular crop maps for farmers, monitor illegal logging, track sometimes elusive endangered species in their habitats, and even drill down to track the sounds of animals as small as bats.
Sustainable Supply Chains: Can Retailers Be the Rising Tide That Lifts All Boats?
SUPPLY CHAIN - A whopping 97 percent of environmental impacts in the retail sector come from the product itself — from raw materials, transportation and product manufacturing. With impacts so heavily weighted in the supply chain, retailers are increasingly and creatively wading upstream to partner with their suppliers on their greatest impacts. The key to success lies in selecting the appropriate supplier engagement method and then using that approach as a vehicle to deeper collaboration. But can successful retailer approaches truly motivate meaningful supply chain improvements?The benefits of engagement
Survey: Consumers Hate Product Waste More Than Going to the Dentist
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - This week, LiquiGlide Inc. — creator of a coating for the insides of food containers that helps coax out every last drop — released survey results that clearly illustrate consumers' intense dislike of product waste.
Shareholders Representing $35B Press P&G for Recyclable Packaging
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble has made a qualified commitment that 90 percent of its packaging will be recyclable by 2020. The commitment came the day before an October 14 vote on a shareholder proposal filed by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow asking the company to phase out unrecyclable packaging. The proposal won significant support — 25 percent of shares voted, representing more than $35 billion of investments, according to a P&G filing yesterday with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Fair Trade USA Kicks Off Fair Trade Month with Expanded Product Categories
SUPPLY CHAIN - Alongside Fair Trade Month, Fair Trade USA has announced the launch of several new Fair Trade Certified™ products across new categories, including home goods, apparel and coconut.In 2014, the third-party certifier of Fair Trade products in North America partnered with 109 new companies (for a total of 915), and helped launch 455 new Fair Trade Certified products into the North American market. The growth and increased availability of Fair Trade products empowers shoppers to choose items that make a positive difference — from ensuring that factory workers have safe working conditions, to helping farmers and workers improve their communities and environment.
Whirlpool Launches First Refrigerator Water Filter Recycling Program
WASTE NOT - Whirlpool has announced a new recycling initiative that offers consumers a responsible alternative to throwing out their used refrigerator water filters.Whirlpool typically recommends that consumers replace their refrigerator water filter every six months for optimum performance. However, consumers can now take advantage of the company's Refresh & Recycle mail-in program; a simple way to recycle used refrigerator water filters. Recycled filters will be tested for material content and transformed into concrete aggregate used to build roads and other concrete structures. To make this all happen, Whirlpool says it is partnering with recycling company g2 revolution.
Greenpeace to LEGO: 'Shell Is Bad Company'
MARKETING AND COMMS - Greenpeace has launched a campaign urging LEGO to #BlockShell and end its partnership with the oil company, which the NGO contends has been using LEGO’s brand to clean up its image as an Arctic oil driller.
American Cleaning Institute Rolls Out Sustainable Products Initiative
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - The American Cleaning Institute (ACI), the nonprofit trade association representing over 120 companies in the US cleaning products industry — including BASF, Clorox, Dow, Novozymes, Method, Seventh Generation, Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever, to name a few — has launched a new voluntary initiative to promote and demonstrate continual improvement in the cleaning products industry’s sustainability profile.
P&G Removing Phosphates from All Detergents by End of 2015
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Procter & Gamble announced this week that it will eliminate phosphates from all of its laundry detergents — which include brands such as Tide, Ariel, Cheer, Gain, Ace and Bold — by the end of 2015. The company says the goal of the change is to provide consumers with superior cleaning performance while eliminating the harmful effects of the chemicals on the environment.
Chemicals in Consumer Products: New Progress in Transparency
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - The states of Washington and California are breaking new ground by providing consumers with information on potentially harmful chemicals in the products they buy and use on a daily basis. Washington’s focus is on products meant for children; California’s law spotlights cosmetics.
