CLEANTECH -
Renewables continue to gain traction both with businesses and governments, offering solutions to reduce impacts and address issues of energy security. Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) is the latest to embrace renewables, signing a new agreement with EDF Energy to buy all of its electricity for its manufacturing and production sites from renewable sources up to March 2020.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
In an effort to help companies optimize their packaging systems, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) and the Industry Council for Research on Packaging and the Environment (INCPEN) have teamed up to create a new sustainability checklist.
COLLABORATION -
Sustainable flooring and sports surface solutions leader Tarkett is the latest brand to embrace transparency with the launch of a new product catalog that could help drive the use of sustainable building materials towards the mainstream for the construction industry.
PRESS RELEASE -
With its focus on being a good corporate citizen, Ford Motor Company has been named one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies for the eighth straight year – the longest streak for any auto manufacturer.
PRESS RELEASE -
Chocolate bars including famous brands such as Kit Kat, Yorkie and Aero will contain 10% less sugar by next year, manufacturer Nestle has announced.
The sugar will be replaced with higher quantities of existing ingredients or other, non-artificial ingredients, and the amount of calories will be limited. It means about 7,500 tonnes less sugar will be used to make the confectioner's products by 2018.
WASTE NOT -
Global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland has launched the Timberland X Thread collection in partnership with Thread, the Certified B Corporation that transforms plastic bottles from the streets and canals of Haiti into what Thread calls “the most responsible fabric on the planet.” The collection goes beyond environmental sustainability, creating social value and impact in the form of cleaner neighborhoods and meaningful new job opportunities.
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.
PRESS RELEASE -
Biotechnology leader Danimer Scientific and global food and beverage company PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP) have announced an agreement that includes development of Danimer Scientifics’ biodegradable film resins to meet the sustainable flexible packaging requirements of PepsiCo’s global food and beverage business.
The agreement builds on a long-standing relationship that has included the development of bio-based compostable packaging for PepsiCo’s snack brands, and will facilitate the expansion of Danimer Scientifics’ NodaxTM PHA plant.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Surf equipment manufacturer Futures Fins is introducing a new fin for stand-up paddleboards (SUP) created from biocomposites. The RWC (reclaimed wood composite) Keel is an environmentally friendly biocomposite-based fin that meets, and in some aspects exceeds, traditional performance demands.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The fashion industry shows no sign of slowing down in regards to reducing its environmental impact, with new initiatives and schemes emerging almost daily. Though the concept of fast fashion stands in stark contrast to the notion of conscious consumerism and arguably sustainability itself, innovation and disruptive design play an important role in driving the industry towards a more circular, sustainable model.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Environmental and corporate social responsibility non-profit As You Sow has called upon four major US companies — Amazon, McDonald’s, Target and Walmart — to ditch polystyrene foam packaging from their operations. And they’re not the only ones: A new report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, endorsed by leaders of 15 global brands, has also called for globally replacing polystyrene.
PRESS RELEASE -
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Honda (NYSE: HMC) today announced establishment of the auto industry’s first manufacturing joint venture to mass produce an advanced hydrogen fuel cell system that will be used in future products from each company.
Fuel Cell System Manufacturing, LLC will operate within GM’s existing battery pack manufacturing facility site in Brownstown, Michigan, south of Detroit. Mass production of fuel cell systems is expected to begin around 2020 and create nearly 100 new jobs. The companies are making equal investments totaling $85 million in the joint venture.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The textile industry isn’t exactly the poster child for sustainability or ethical business practices, but Walmart and the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI) are working to change all that by funding projects geared towards revolutionizing textile manufacturing.
PRESS RELEASE -
As part of its ambitious 2025 sustainability goals, Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials has created a new portfolio designed to enable customers choose products that can help to make a positive environmental impact.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Today, Procter & Gamble announced that it has teamed up with us at TerraCycle and SUEZ, the largest waste management company in Europe, to source, develop and put out the first fully recyclable shampoo bottle made from up to 25 percent recycled beach plastic, for the world’s #1 shampoo brand, Head & Shoulders.
WASTE NOT -
Procter & Gamble announced today additional investments in recycling and beneficial reuse that will eliminate all manufacturing waste from its global network of more than 100 production sites by 2020.
Since P&G began qualifying sites as zero manufacturing waste to landfill, 56 percent of its global production sites have achieved this milestone. Plans are now in place to complete the remaining facilities over the next four years. This means eliminating or beneficially reusing roughly 650,000 metric tons of waste, equivalent to the weight of nearly 350,000 mid-sized cars that would typically go to landfills.
CLEANTECH -
The Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) has awarded 2015 SBIO winner LanzaTech, a carbon-recycling company, $4 million to design and plan a demonstration-scale facility using industrial off gases to produce 3 million gallons a year of low-carbon jet and diesel fuels.
PRESS RELEASE -
Consumer goods giant Unilever has opened a Dh1 billion ($272 million) manufacturing plant, the region’s largest personal care products facility, at Dubai Industrial Park.
The company will mark products manufactured at the factory with a ‘Made in UAE’ label and will export 80 per cent of them to Europe and Mena region.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The Chief Sustainability Officer is a crucial position within any business, working at the very core of a company’s sustainability strategy. When Nissan decided to appoint its first CSO, CEO Carlos Ghosn personally chose SVP Hitoshi Kawaguchi for the job. We spoke to Kawaguchi about Nissan’s approach to CSR and CSV (Creating Shared Value) and the role each plays in working towards a society of sustainable mobility.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
A recent report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and a number of new initiatives sweeping Europe have highlighted the convincing business case for companies to adopt circular principles into their business models. The latest development on the path to a circular economy? A new project across the UK and the Netherlands called REBus.