PRESS RELEASE -
BASF has started production of methanol on the basis of renewable raw materials according to the biomass balance approach. The product name is EU-REDcert-methanol. The company replaces fossil raw materials with second-generation renewable raw materials and uses waste as well as residual materials. As a result, BASF reduces emissions of climate-damaging greenhouse gases by at least 50 percent compared with conventionally produced methanol. In terms of its chemical and physical characteristics, biomass balanced methanol is identical to methanol produced from fossil resources. BASF markets the EU-REDcert-methanol to customers and also uses it itself as an intermediate for other biomass balanced products.
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.
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.
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.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
With the Our Ocean conference taking place in Bali, Indonesia, this week, ocean sustainability has been a hot topic: The event burst with sweeping commitments from the public and private sector alike aimed at cleaning up and protecting this precious resource. One such commitment came from the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which launched a £1 million Ocean Stewardship Fund.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
The apparel and footwear industry accounts for 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions — that’s almost as much as the total emissions of the European Union. And the number of fashion cycles for clothing production has increased from two a year to as many as 50-100. Each cotton T-shirt we own withdrew more than 700 gallons of water from our natural resources during production.
PRESS RELEASE -
Sometimes a great notion matters. Sometimes a great notion matters a huge amount. In this case, the great notion was the Michigan Source Reduction Initiative (MSRI). Few people remember MSRI, but its legacy lives on.
MSRI was the catalyst that launched The Dow Chemical Company into a collaborative approach in helping the world achieve sustainable development. It also ushered in a wave of new and unique company-NGO collaborations that helped accelerate progress and set new standards for these relationships. It is hard to imagine the great collaborations of more recent years (e.g., US Climate Action Partnership formed in 2006) happening without that catalyst of MSRI.
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.
PRESS RELEASE -
Danone announces a series of new commitments and actions to ensure its packaging will become 100% circular, and to accelerate the global transition towards a circular economy of packaging. This includes (1) initiatives to improve product design and develop alternative delivery and reuse models, (2) investments to develop effective, efficient and inclusive systems for increased collection and recycling, to boost recycling and (3) actions to preserve natural resources by reintegrating recycled materials into our packaging and developing use of renewable materials.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Consumers report that the prevailing reason why they buy bottled water is "convenience." Anyone can search online for the nearest gas station, coffee shop or nail salon, but when it comes to thirst, what options does one have? Open Google Maps and search “water fountain” — or ask Siri or Alexa, “Where can I fill up my water bottle?” No one has ever indexed the locations and prices of clean water around the world ... until now.
PRESS RELEASE -
For many years, the idea of going green in payments has been limited to linking purchases and accounts with donations to environmental causes and carbon offsets. These programs have had an impact in terms of awareness and raising much-needed funds. Now, there’s an opportunity to put these efforts into action across a broader part of the payments industry.
Today, Mastercard and card manufacturers Gemalto, Giesecke+Devrient and IDEMIA launched the Greener Payments Partnership to establish environmental best practices and reduce first-use PVC plastic in card manufacturing.
NEW METRICS -
Oceans cover more than 70 percent of our planet’s surface and are home to 80 percent of life on earth. Fish, which provide 20 percent of daily protein intake to about 3.1 billion people, is among the most widely traded food commodities — at a value of US$145 billion annually.
PRESS RELEASE -
Kohler Co. has been presented with a 2018 Mahatma Award for Social Good for its “Innovation for Good” (IfG) efforts. Laura Kohler, Senior Vice President-Human Resources, Stewardship & Sustainability for Kohler Co., accepted the award on behalf of IfG and Kohler Co. in New York City during the recently held UN General Assembly.
The Mahatma Awards for Social Good spotlight changemakers and are awarded annually to individuals or organizations committed to addressing complex social issues like safe water, sanitation, disease, poverty and hunger.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Today, Ceres and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) announce the addition of Target and Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), one of the world’s largest agricultural processors and food ingredient providers, to the AgWater Challenge. The two companies’ new water stewardship commitments were shared today at the Financial Times Water Summit in London.
PRESS RELEASE -
Seventh Generation, a leading household and personal care products company and pioneer in the eco-friendly products space, has announced the launch of a new laundry detergent in an effort to modernize the liquid laundry category and drive unnecessary plastic and water waste out of the industry.
PRESS RELEASE -
Nestlé Waters North America announced today that its Allentown, Pennsylvania factories received certification under the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard. Created and supported by prominent environmental conservation groups, development organizations, and industry leaders, the AWS Standard is the first comprehensive global benchmark for responsible water stewardship across social, environmental, and economic criteria. This achievement was confirmed through audits conducted by SCS Global Services (SCS), a leading international third-party certification body, and sole certifier to the AWS standard in North America.
PRESS RELEASE -
Brazilian chemicals company Braskem, producers of I’m green™ – a bio-based polyethylene made from sugarcane – has had its negative carbon footprint credentials strengthened thanks to an independent review by the Carbon Trust.
In a new report comparing I’m green™ with fossil-based equivalents, the Carbon Trust has endorsed the methodology used by Braskem to support claims that for every tonne of I’m green™ produced, the equivalent of around 3 tonnes of CO2 are locked away by the sugarcane, which provides the main raw material for its manufacture. This means Braskem’s bio-based plastic is effectively carbon-negative.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
EVRYTHNG — the IoT platform that makes every consumer product intelligent, interactive and trackable — is now powering a first-of-its-kind recycling scheme providing CPG brands and retailers with vital insights to consumer recycling habits and behaviors.
COLLABORATION -
More and more studies suggest that time spent outdoors can help foster our mental and physical development and wellbeing. Unfortunately, maintaining green spaces such as urban and national parks is not always an easy task. Maintenance can be particularly challenging for national park authorities, who often need to keep watch over hundreds of miles of wild terrain.