SUPPLY CHAIN -
Sustainable supply-chain management company EcoVadis and BSR’s Clean Cargo Working Group (CCWG) have announced a partnership aimed at standardizing sustainability reporting requests for the sea freight supply chain.Under this partnership EcoVadis will align its environmental assessment questionnaires for sea carriers with the Clean Cargo Environmental Performance Survey framework. Clean Cargo members also will have the opportunity to leverage the EcoVadis online collaboration platform to access sustainability scorecards on their partners’ performance.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
In his pre-show keynote at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas yesterday, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich outlined a range of the company’s new products, initiatives and strategic relationships aimed at accelerating innovation across a range of mobile and wearable devices, and challenged the entire electronics industry to join Intel in becoming “conflict-free.”
SUPPLY CHAIN -
It was every retailer’s worst nightmare: Days after the Rana Plaza factory collapsed in one of the worst industrial disasters in recorded history, activists began plastering the Internet with pictures of clothing labels uncovered amongst the rubble of concrete and human remains. Amongst these, some of the world’s most recognized brands, including Mango, H&M and Walmart.
COLLABORATION -
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today it has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) with Procter & Gamble (P&G) and Coca-Cola to support the revival of economic activity and livelihoods in Leyte, the Philippine province most devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in early November.Under these MOUs, USAID, P&G and Coca-Cola will help establish new sari-sari stores (small community stores) and rehabilitate damaged or destroyed sari-sari stores located in public markets. In addition, the organizations will facilitate store owners’ access to microfinancing loans and other interventions to help them get back on their feet.
COLLABORATION -
A diverse group of leading UK companies and multinationals including BT, Kingfisher, Coca-Cola Enterprises, SKF, Capgemini and The Crown Estate have teamed up with NGOs Forum for the Future, The Climate Group and WWF-UK to encourage businesses to commit to becoming net positive, by giving back more than they take from the environment and society.
COLLABORATION -
A group of the country's leading consumer brands have formed a new coalition to persuade Congress to update the nation's out-of-date and ineffective chemical safety laws. Strong lobbying by other industry groups has given policymakers the impression that business is monolithic in its support for weak legislation. The new coalition, Companies for Safer Chemicals, will make a business argument for strong reforms that support the industry innovating to create safer and cleaner products.
COLLABORATION -
Nestlé has announced a commitment to helping reduce waste and boost responsible disposal in Chile by supporting a new recycling network.The company has backed the “Collective Recycling Project,” which aims to recycle about 1,200 tons of waste per year through the installation of five recycling centers in the capital city of Santiago.The project is a joint collaboration with Walmart Chile, Coca-Cola Chile, PepsiCo and Unilever, with the goal of improving waste management in the country.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Nike, Inc. today celebrated the opening of a water-free dyeing facility featuring high-tech equipment that will eliminate the use of water and process chemicals from fabric dyeing at its Taiwanese contract manufacturer, Far Eastern New Century Corp (FENC). Nike has named the innovative process “ColorDry” to highlight the environmental benefits and unprecedented coloring achieved with the technology.
As part of its Plan A commitment to become carbon-neutral, Marks & Spencer (M&S) has become the first major company to sign on to UNICEF’s new carbon offset project, which aims to improve the health and lives of children, while drastically cutting carbon emissions, in developing areas.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Socially conscious outdoor apparel company Patagonia has made its feelings about mass consumption clear in a number of ways — last month, it launched its Responsible Economy campaign, which calls on consumers and businesses alike to rethink disposability for more effective resource allocation; its Common Threads Partnership urges customers to only buy what they need and to recycle their worn-out Patagonia gear through the company’s take-back program; and, perhaps most famously, with its full-page New York Times ad on B
SUPPLY CHAIN -
H&M, the world's second-largest clothing retailer, established a roadmap this week to pay a fair “living wage” to 850,000 textile workers by 2018, citing that governments were not acting fast enough. But some are arguing that H&M should move faster, as well.During the last year, H&M says it has worked on the problem of how to best address wages, both short and long term, on several levels from purchasing practices, supplier practices, workers’ rights to government responsibility.
WASTE NOT -
Over the past fiscal year, more than 99.35 percent of all materials entering Procter & Gamble’s (P&G) plants were used in products and through recycling, reuse, and conversion of waste to energy, according to the company’s 2013 Sustainability Report.Additionally, more than 50 of the Company’s global sites now send zero manufacturing waste to landfill, including every site in Germany. Since 2010, P&G says it has reduced manufacturing waste by 56 percent per unit of production — more than double the company’s original goal.
COLLABORATION -
The Coca-Cola Company and Ford Motor Company have teamed up to fuel more sustainable design by collaborating on a first-ever interior fabric made from the same renewable material used to produce Coke’s PlantBottle packaging.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Despite being the No. 3 wireless carrier in the United States, Sprint leads the industry in phone recycling. Last year, Sprint reclaimed 4.4 million phones through voluntary collection programs — compared to AT&T’s 3.1 million and Verizon’s 3 million — and in September, Guinness World Records recognized Sprint for shattering the record for the number of cellular phones recycled in one week: 103,582 cellular phones, more than double the previous record.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
TOMS Shoes, which has helped provide shoes for children in need around the worldwide with its One for One® model, helped spearhead the burgeoning movement of social entrepreneurs creating similar business models based on addressing a problem while making a profit.But instead of admonishing or suing his growing contingent of imitators, TOMS founder and chief shoe giver Blake Mycoskie has applauded them, and now has taken his support one step further with the launch today of the new TOMS Marketplace.
General Mills says it has improved the health profile of 73 percent of its U.S. retail sales volume since 2005, which includes enhancing nutrition such as increasing protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, or reducing limiters such as calories, sodium, sugar and fat.In fiscal 2013, the company claims it improved more than 20 percent of its U.S. retail sales volume and the nutritional improvements touched all General Mills U.S. retail platforms, including Baking, Cereal, Dairy, Meals and Snacks.Reductions in sodium and calories, and increases in whole grain were among the main health improvements General Mills achieved in fiscal 2013. As with past years, all reported improvements were significant, meaning a 10 percent or more improvement was achieved.
ICT AND BIG DATA -
REI says a retrofit of its data center, which houses servers and backup systems for computers, software systems, REI.com and point of sale for its 132 stores in 33 states, has resulted in a 93 percent reduction in the cooling energy used to operate the facility.The outdoor retailer says the retrofit uses “free cooling” via a rooftop evaporative cooling tower to keep servers at optimal temperatures. The system reduces the need for mechanical cooling nearly year-round, or about 8,672 hours annually.The retrofit saves 2.2 million kilowatt hours each year — enough to power six REI stores. Improved efficiencies also mean improved business resiliency and stability in the event of a regional power outage, the company says.
WASTE NOT -
Innovative carpet-tile manufacturer and environmental pioneer Interface has announced its participation in 'Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear' — a new initiative designed to address the growing environmental problem of marine waste. Interface is the first flooring company to participate in this global program, founded by yarn manufacturer Aquafil, conservation group ECNC Land & Sea Group, and Dutch manufacturer Star Sock, as part of Interface's long-term 'Mission Zero' sustainability goal.
WASTE NOT -
UK paper manufacturer James Cropper has developed another innovative recycling process that incorporates cocoa husk waste from chocolate production into unbleached cellulose fiber to produce a food-grade paper. The company says turning the otherwise wasted skins of many of the 3.5 million metric tons of cocoa beans produced each year into paper could be a significant breakthrough for the food and packaging industries.The paper is now in production and certified for use in the food supply chain, including as wrapping for chocolate bars.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
To mark Global Handwashing Day (GHD) — October 15th — Unilever’s Lifebuoy brand has announced a significant expansion of its Help a Child Reach 5 campaign. Launched in February in Thesgora, India, a rural village known to have one of the highest rates of diarrhoea in the country, the campaign aims to end preventable deaths of children under five by changing hand-washing behaviors, one village at a time. Today, Lifebuoy has confirmed it will extend this program to communities and villages across 17 countries globally.