WASTE NOT -
Today, NextWave Plastics — a collaborative, open-source initiative convening leading technology and consumer-focused companies to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains — announced that HP Inc. and IKEA are joining its global consortium. The addition of HP and IKEA marks 10 companies collaborating to “turn off the tap” of plastic entering the ocean.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
How do you get a community to take immediate social action when you have just a handful of minutes onstage?
This question doesn’t get asked often — or sound plausible — because most organizations have created an imaginary line between things that happen in ‘real life’ and things that happen in ‘digital life.’ At conferences, keynote speakers make their pitch for social action and hope, against the odds, that attendees will remember to donate to causes or email their lawmakers later.
PRESS RELEASE -
A joint venture between Procter & Gamble and Italian healthcare group Angelini is working to create a sustainable recycling loop that would allow dirty diapers to be turned into plastic bottle caps and viscose clothing.
More than 20 million tonnes of disposable diapers are burned or dumped in landfills globally every year - a major environmental problem since their use became widespread in the 1960s and 1970s.
Part of the problem is that collecting, cleaning and breaking diapers into their component parts - plastic, cellulose and super absorbent polymer - is tricky and expensive.
The other issue is that no-one has been able to establish a market for the recycled output, dooming previous commercial efforts to failure.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Amazon today announced that it will invest $10 million in Closed Loop Fund to support recycling infrastructure in the United States. The investment will increase the availability of curbside recycling for 3 million homes in communities across the country, making it easier for customers to recycle and further develop end markets for recycled commodities. The investment will divert 1 million tons of recyclable material from landfill into the recycling stream and eliminate the equivalent of 2 million metric tons of CO2 by 2028 — equivalent to shutting down a coal-fired power plant for six months.
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 -
Loop Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:LOOP), a leading technology innovator in sustainable plastic and PepsiCo, Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP) today announced that they have entered into a multi-year supply agreement that will enable PepsiCo to purchase production capacity from Loop’s joint venture facility in the United States and incorporate Loop™ PET plastic, which is 100% recycled material, into its product packaging by early 2020.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT -
Ann Starodaj (@AnnStarodaj), director of sustainability at Optoro, spoke with us recently to discuss her passion for promoting sustainable consumption, how Optoro’s software solutions enable this for clients, and how leveraging a strong appetite within the business to measure product impact is helping her expand the sustainability team.
Keep reading to learn more about the inspiring army of changemakers Ann is seeing in the marketplace, her desire to collaborate with members on reverse logistics, and the insights she gained as a pastry chef before diving head long into sustainability.
WASTE NOT -
A Canadian startup called Genecis, formed by a group of graduates from the University of Toronto Scarborough, is upcycling food waste into biodegradable plastics, which can then be used in everything from 3D printing filament to packaging.
PRESS RELEASE -
Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company, today announced the creation of two new senior leadership roles charged with addressing global plastics recycling and waste management challenges. Tim Boven, previously Dow’s global integrated supply chain director for Hydrocarbons, is the new recycling commercial director for Latin America and North America. Carsten Larsen, formerly Dow Industrial Solutions’ commercial director for Europe, Middle East, Africa and India, will serve as recycling commercial director for EMEA & APAC.
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.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Although developments in the field of artificial intelligence began around the 1950s, its capacities have significantly increased in the recent years. Owing to factors such as the development of faster computers, availability of open-source software and the access to vast amounts of computational data, AI has now branched into machine learning (ML), probabilistic predictions, chaos theory and evolutionary computation. Investing in artificial intelligence courses, therefore, prepares people to undertake not just one, but many AI applications.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
A new report published this week by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) identifies 12 characteristics behind business model design, that are being combined by organizations around the world in different ways to create new sources of value.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
While it might be cliche to say that plant-based fabrics are the latest trend in fashion, the recent emergence of luxury textiles made from everything from kapok tree fibers, apples, orange waste and coffee grounds, to a vegan wool alternative made from hemp and coconut fibers suggests these innovations are more than a seasonal blip.
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.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Nespresso has partnered with Blue Marble Microinsurance — a startup with the mission of providing socially impactful, commercially viable insurance protection to the underserved and incorporated by nine insurance entities — to launch a pilot weather index insurance program for smallholder coffee farmers in Colombia.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Last year, the Sustainable Brands community gathered around the world throughout the year to share insights on how they – and their customers – were “redefining the good life.” This year, the conversation has progressed from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ of designing the sustainable future in which we all want to live.
WALKING THE TALK -
EcoVadis has published the second annual edition of its Global CSR Risk and Performance Index. The report provides an updated look at the corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance of more than 33,000 companies, across the calendar years 2015 through 2017.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Responsible investing has been an overriding theme of the past two weeks, with a proliferation of new initiatives, campaigns and reports joining a growing list of recently released resources for sustainable and impact investors to increase the quality of their investments emerging during last week’s Global Climate Action Summit and this week at Climate Week.
PRESS RELEASE -
FLORHAM PARK, NJ, September 25, 2018 – BASF was recognized for its continuing involvement and commitment to the United Nations (UN) Global Compact and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a UN Global Compact LEAD company and as an SDG Pioneer during the UN Global Compact Leaders Summit.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Since its founding in 2006, EcoAct Group has grown from raising awareness at the local level in France into a global collection of experts engaging with the private and public sectors to aid in the transition to a low-carbon economy. In addition to advising companies on climate change and carbon neutrality strategies, EcoAct also conducts research to assess publicly listed companies’ efforts in these areas.