COLLABORATION -
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF), a global industry network driven by its members to encourage the adoption of practices and standards that serve the consumer goods industry worldwide, has announced publication of the first-ever Sustainable Palm Oil Sourcing Guidelines.
NEW METRICS -
The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) approach is a game-changing standard in LCA, with effects and ramifications that we are only just beginning to understand. That’s why PRé is devoting an article series to PEF, discussing it one aspect at a time.Today: How did PEF come about? And what are some of the lessons we have learned so far?
NEW METRICS -
Revenues from company-defined portfolios of sustainable products and services grew by 91 percent between 2010 and 2013, according to a new report by The Conference Board, a public interest research association.For S&P Global 100 companies that break out revenue for sustainable products or services separately, that revenue stream grew at six times the rate of overall company results.
CLEANTECH -
Today we can access vast quantities of information from countless sources to help us make better decisions quickly.My cell phone can help me find a restaurant with the type of food I like, at a price I like, and with a customer satisfaction rating. I can get directions to the restaurant, including current traffic conditions. And if I don’t want to drive myself, Uber can take care of that.All of this is possible, yet when I go to my grocery store I’m still unclear as to what’s in the products I buy and where they came from.Is this can of soup lined with BPA? Are there GMOs in it? What’s the environmental impact of this product? Can I recycle it?
COLLABORATION -
Last week, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) — whose membership includes hundreds of consumer brands from a range of industries around the world, including food giants Campbell Soup, Clif Bar, Hershey, Mars and Procter & Gamble — announced a new resolution to mitigate the roughly 40 percent of food wasted globally by agreeing to halve food waste within the operations of its 400 retailer and manufacturer members by 2025, and to support wider U
NEW METRICS -
Back in 2013, PRé and seven frontrunner companies developed a vision to create a standardised and trusted methodology to assess the social impacts of products. Creating such a methodology together would avoid the drawbacks of each company developing its own methodology. Two years later, the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics has reached its third phase.The aim of the product social footprinting methodology was not only to measure and reduce social risks in the supply chain but also to identify improvement opportunities, reduce the social footprint of products and drive innovation.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
A new report suggests the U.S. biobased products industry has a notable impact on the nation’s economy. It is the first research effort to quantify the effect of this industry from an economics and jobs perspective, according to U.S. Agricultural Secretary, Tom Vilsack.“Before, we could only speculate at the incredible economic impact of the biobased products industry. Now, we know that in 2013 alone, America’s biobased industry contributed four million jobs and $369 billion to our economy,” Vilsack said.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
In an effort to expand the transparency of its products, SC Johnson announced this week that it will disclose product-specific ingredients of its fragrances, beginning with Glade®. Other SC Johnson brands including Pledge®, Windex®, Shout® and Scrubbing Bubbles® will follow. Consumers will be able to access fragrance information on WhatsInsideSCJohnson.com or by calling 800-558-5252. Ingredient information is available down to .09 percent of the product formula, or the top 10 ingredients when there are at least 20 ingredients – whichever provides the most information.
CLEANTECH -
With nearly 500 eco-labels in 200 countries and across 25 industry sectors, it is easy for both consumers and producers to get confused. A Thursday morning panel at SB ’15 San Diego featuring Sheila Bonini, CEO of The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), and Adam Gordon, Supply Chain Account Manager at CDP, shared two innovative ways of addressing that challenge.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
ISEAL Alliance, the global association for sustainability standards and labels, has launched its new “Challenge the Label” website with downloadable tools that helps companies choose credible sustainability labels for their products. ISEAL’s Director of Communications, Lara Koritzke, alongside leaders from Marine Stewardship Council and Bumble Bee Seafoods unveiled the “Challenge the Label” site and buyer tools today at the Sustainable Brands 2015 Conference in San Diego, California.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
During lunch in the Activation Hub on Tuesday afternoon, 3M Sustainability Platform Manager Cassandra Garber led a lively discussion on how her company, a science-based institution with over 55,000 products in myriad sectors and regions, can deliver on its mission to “Improve Lives Everywhere.”
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Ben & Jerry’s has announced that it will institute its own internal carbon tax of $10 for every metric ton of its greenhouse gas emissions, from farm to landfill.Using a recent Lifecycle Analysis that gave the ice cream company a “cow-to-cone” picture of its carbon footprint, Ben & Jerry’s says it will be putting the funds from the tax to jumpstart sustainbility programs it’s already working on. Due to the fact that the dairy component counts for 42 percent of its overall lifecycle emissions, the company will start by working with farmers to develop and implement carbon footprint-reducing strategies.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Kicking off Sustainable Brands ‘15 San Diego this morning was an informative workshop on evaluating product chemicals and the most useful tools for doing so. Consumers have recently become hyper-aware of chemicals used in their products, but the way they receive that information and the way the information is gathered differs according to the tools brands use. The panel discussed chemical hazard, exposure and risk capabilities, software usability and other factors to consider when deciding which framework or software solution best meet a company’s chemical assessment needs.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
With approximately 9 billion people in the world today, society consumes and discards more and more each year, with no signs of slowing down. Culturally, we’ve begun to embrace and adopt recycling as a solution to our modern waste habits and an opportunity to keep designing, using and producing recyclable materials. But what if those recyclable materials are not in fact being recycled? Well, then we’re right back where we started, aren’t we?
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) today announced it is available to help companies navigate compliance with the pending conflict minerals legislation recently voted on by the European Parliament.In addition, the CFSI says it is adopting a risk-based approach to its audit program to bolster audits of smelters and refiners of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold worldwide.The draft EU legislation on conflict minerals requires importers and processors of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold to self-certify via independent, third-party due diligence audits of smelters and refiners that their products do not directly or indirectly finance conflict and serious human rights abuses.
NEW METRICS -
During my past five years at PRé, I’ve observed how companies approach different issues. I’m very interested in social impact assessment, and I experienced that companies have wildly different approaches for assessing the social impacts of their products and services, and for managing product social sustainability.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
With the rise of brands such as Warby Parker, Soapbox Soaps, Plum Organics and Bombas Socks, the one-for-one giving model has become a popular way for companies to easily tie social impact to consumer product purchases and show just how easy it can be to support a worthy cause.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Your company is doing all the right things: You’re making a product with sustainable attributes, your manufacturing process is diverting waste from landfill, and your products contain recycled content. But are these efforts translating into higher brand value at the shelf? If you’re not communicating your sustainability efforts in the right way, you might be missing the boat. Here are three key reasons you can’t afford to miscommunicate your sustainability initiatives:
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Four years after the launch of its Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever is reporting today that the plan is making an increasingly positive impact on its business in terms of growth, cost efficiency and resilience for the future.
WASTE NOT -
Preserve, producer of sustainable consumer goods with a focus on creating closed loop products using recycled plastic, today announced the launch of Preserve 2 Go — a durable, reusable clamshell container designed for use in food services.Developed to “transform the takeout food experience and to provide an avenue for a more sustainable, eco-friendly system”, Preserve 2 Go could help eliminate the unnecessary waste of millions of disposable to-go containers.