CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Three new goals to enhance the circular economy for plastics and reduce packaging waste have been announced by leading U.S. plastic producers including BASF, Dow, DuPont and Braskem.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Choosing from the many existing compliance schemes can be challenging for organisations who strive to work with suppliers that provide decent working conditions, respect the environment and align with industry-approved resolutions.
PRESS RELEASE -
New Tagline Demonstrates Company’s Longstanding Commitment to Improving the Environment, Leadership in Transparency and Improving Lives
RACINE, Wis., April 23, 2018 – For the first time in nearly two decades, the company behind such ubiquitous and famous products as Windex®, Pledge®, Ziploc® and Glade® is updating its identity and putting a spotlight on its purpose by adopting a new tagline.
PRESS RELEASE -
Here at Target, we’re proud of our ever-growing, differentiated assortment of must-have products. Our teams search far and wide (literally!) to bring guests popular and exclusive items they’ll love. Sometimes that means creating our very own collections, and other times that means seeking out new and exciting brands. This week our second year of Target Takeoff starts to do exactly that!
Target Takeoff is a mini retail boot camp that brings 10 up-and-coming startups to Minneapolis to work alongside business mentors to learn the ins and outs of the retail industry. The program is a part of Target’s larger retail accelerator capability—which also includes Techstars and our India-based accelerator in Bangalore.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
For the second year, Fast Company is celebrating businesses, policies, and nonprofits that are poised help shift society to a more sustainable and more equitable future with its World Changing Ideas Awards. From melted down guns to nitrogen-producing microbes, there’s quite a bit of variety among 2018’s twelve winners.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the Closed Loop Fund (CLF) today unveiled an historic statewide, public-private partnership targeting a $5 million investment in recycling infrastructure in Connecticut in 2018. This statewide program follows Closed Loop Fund’s successful investment in Waterbury, CT in 2017.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Despite decades of intense media and business attention, poor working conditions persist in global supply chains. Even Apple, recently announced yet again as the world’s most admired company by Fortune magazine, has struggled to address this issue.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
“We want all of our three billion products we sell every year to be well on the path to being truly sustainable by 2025.”
PRESS RELEASE -
Unilever is going beyond labelling requirements by disclosing fragrance ingredients online in Europe, starting with France and the UK.
The move builds on the commitment Unilever made last year, to build trust in its brands by providing in-depth product and ingredient information for its home care and personal care products.
COLLABORATION -
Coinciding with New York Fashion Week, Unilever and global thrift retailer Savers announced a new partnership to draw attention to the issue of clothing waste. As they say, timing is everything.
The two organizations collaborated for the latest iteration of Savers’ I Give a Sh!rt campaign, an awareness movement that aims to shed light on the 10.5 million tons of clothing that are discarded every year.
PRESS RELEASE -
LG Electronics has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) with the 2018 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year–Sustained Excellence Award for continued leadership in protecting the environment through energy efficient home appliances and consumer electronics products.
"Environmental sustainability is a core business principle at LG. We're proud of our long-standing partnership with ENERGY STAR and our positive environmental impact in the United States," said William Cho, president and CEO of LG Electronics North America. "LG is helping American consumers experience 'Innovation for a Better Life' by creating products that deliver energy savings to help save money and the planet without sacrificing performance or style."
WASTE NOT -
The closed-loop conversation is often one that focuses on e-waste, fashion and single-use plastics, but LEGO Group and Antwerp-based design furniture brand ecoBirdy are aiming to change that by bringing the concept of circularity and sustainability to the toy front.
Supported by the EU’s program for the competitiveness of SMEs (COSME), ecoBirdy has launched its first collection of design furniture for kids made entirely from recycled plastic toys. The launch follows two years of research exploring how to sustainably recycle plastic toys.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
A new report has found that money actually does grow on trees. Businesses are making money from planting trees and growing sales as rapidly as 10 times per year.
WALKING THE TALK -
Nested between smart mirrors, driverless cars, and paper-thin TVs, a little duck fluffed its feathers, awaiting its big debut.
Unlike most of the 3,900+ products at the crowded cultural phenomenon that is the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the duck was not for sale. No matter: the response from attendees was remarkable.
CLEANTECH -
Your bus shelter and web browser may soon be blanketed with ads promoting “The best phone you’ve never heard of," heralding the arrival of a new smartphone that has finally come to town. Who is this mysterious “newcomer”? None other than Chinese IT giant Huawei.
Huawei, which is already the world’s third-largest smartphone maker, announced this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas the arrival of its flagship smartphone, the Mate 10 Pro, to the US market.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Sustainable products geeks rejoice, for 'tis once again the season of giving! And what better way to celebrate and participate than with gifts whose buying and giving creates more cheer, health, beauty and financial stability while eliminating waste, pollution and carbon emissions around the world? Here are just a few of our favorite discoveries this year of products we'd be proud to give.
Waste Not
You know we’re big fans of upcycling, here at SB! Here are just a few of the waste-turned-products we loved this year:
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Since 2015, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) has been publishing its Chain Reaction report, produced in collaboration with Friends of the Earth, Consumers Union, Food Animal Concerns Trust and Center for Food Safety. Chain Reaction is basically a report card, showing how well major fast-food (and -casual) restaurants are doing at limiting their reliance on meat products raised on antibiotics. Here’s a look at 2017’s scorecard:
WASTE NOT -
Sustainable Surf, a nonprofit focused on protecting ocean health, has teamed up with Swiss designer Yves Béhar and MAFIA Bags, a Bay Area-based brand making bags and backpacks from upcycled sails, to create an urban adventure bag that supports the local community and diverts valuable resources from landfill.
COLLABORATION -
As part of its ongoing regionalization strategy, The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) has created a Japan Sustainability Local Group. Chaired by Koji Inoue of Ajinomoto Co., Inc., the Local Group will help local and multinational CGF members in Japan share knowledge and best practices on sustainability challenges facing the consumer goods industry and strategies for working towards the CFG’s global Environmental and Social Sustainability Resolutions.
CLEANTECH -
Following a recent commitment to source 100 percent sustainable cotton by 2020, Target has introduced a new climate policy and Science-Based Target Initiative-aligned goals aimed at reducing its carbon footprint.