ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The Environmental Audit Committee is calling on the UK government to make fashion retailers take responsibility for the waste they create.
WALKING THE TALK -
Once seen as a ‘nice to have’ for businesses, sustainability has become a vital component of many global organisations’ social and economic strategies.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Continuing this year’s wave of near-constant innovations aimed at responsible management of post-consumer plastics are new advancements from both the private and public sector.
BASF making products with chemically recycled plastics
BASF announced it has broken new ground in plastic waste recycling with its ChemCycling project. Chemical recycling provides an innovative way to reutilize currently unrecyclable plastic waste, such as mixed or uncleaned plastics. Depending on the region, such waste is usually sent to landfill or burned with energy recovery.
WASTE NOT -
New initiatives from both the private and public sector aim to further chip away at the UK’s food waste issue, as the nation attempts to rebound from being designated Europe’s biggest food waster in 2015.
Kellogg's Cornflakes adding sweet touch to Throw Away IPA
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
As a record number of global investors calls on governments to accelerate action on climate change, a new CDP analysis shows that some of the largest U.S.-based corporations view climate change as an increasing risk to their bottom line and reputation among consumers and investors.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
This week at the COP24 climate summit in Katowice, Poland, the discussion about how to implement the directives of the Paris Agreement is in full swing.
LEADERSHIP -
Atlanta may not be the first city that comes to mind when you think of sustainability — but perhaps, it should be.
NEW METRICS -
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.
PRESS RELEASE -
Plastic waste and pollution have captured the attention of the public, governments, and businesses around the world. The search for solutions has started, and there is growing recognition that quick-fixes that address the symptoms is not enough. To effectively switch off the tap on the plastic problem, a systemic shift to tackle the root causes is needed.
To further accelerate the sense of urgency and momentum gaining around marine plastic litter, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation has launched the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
This week, building on news that HP, Inc and IKEA joined a global consortium working to develop the first global network of ocean-bound plastics supply chains, the public and private sector made further strides on creating a circular economy for packaging around the world.
WALKING THE TALK -
Next month’s election could potentially be historic for Washington State, where voters will have the choice of enacting the first-in-the-nation carbon fee — a concrete measure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state. Measure 1631 has the support of several prominent Washington-based businesses including REI, Expedia, Microsoft and Northwest Energy, and over 100 businesses in total.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Meat-heavy diets have been under increased scrutiny of late, spawning a host of research and campaigns linking them to the accelerating impacts of climate change around the world.
Now, a new report from the Changing Markets Foundation, Mighty Earth and Compassion in World Farming points the finger at governments, which they say are failing to tackle meat over-consumption to meet climate targets.
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.
PRESS RELEASE -
Attaining environmental benefits and lower cost of ownership are driving more commercial fleets to electrify, according to a
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Circulate Capital, the impact-focused investment management firm dedicated to financing companies, projects and infrastructure that prevent ocean plastic; and SecondMuse, a global business accelerator that works with local stakeholders, leading corporations and government agencies to build resilient economies, today announced the launch of The Incubator Network by Circulate Capital and SecondMuse, a new initiative to accelerate solutions to ocean plastic waste by partnering with existing incubators t
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
New research from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF) finds that a transition to a circular economy in China’s cities could make goods and services more affordable for citizens while reducing the impacts normally associated with middle-class lifestyles. The findings are being presented today at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, China.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Smart Cities for All global initiative, a collaboration of G3ict and World Enabled, two nonprofits with a history of leadership in inclusive, accessible design, to launch a new project, Inclusive Innovation for Smarter Cities.
The project is convening leaders from government, industry, and disability organizations to generate new knowledge and tools that define how urban innovation ecosystems, including entrepreneurs, developers, incubators, and accelerators, can create more inclusive apps and technology solutions that impact the lives of all people in cities, including persons with disabilities and older persons.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
According to a new survey from UK-based environmental law charity ClientEarth, the British public wants urgent action on climate change and strongly supports holding fossil fuel companies and the UK government accountable for the negative effects of climate change.
After a record heatwave in the UK and northern Europe, the majority of Brits surveyed think fossil fuel companies, whose products contribute directly to climate change, should be made to pay damages for their role in contributing to global warming (71 percent), and that the UK government must do more to help prepare for and adapt to climate change (62 percent).
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Founded in 2008, Atlanta-based Rubicon Global has become a worldwide leader in providing cloud-based waste and recycling solutions for customers in business, government and the nonprofit sectors.