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.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Procter & Gamble has developed a new process to mold plastic that it claims is thinner, cheaper and more environmentally friendly than the current industry standard and could save the company $1 billion a year by using less plastic and different raw materials.The company says it plans to use the material for its own products and its patent applications and may also sell it to other marketers from non-competitive package-goods players to automotive giants.
WASTE NOT -
Nestlé today announced it will achieve zero waste in all 150 of its European factories by 2020, meaning no factory waste will go to landfill or be incinerated without energy being recovered from the process.“The decision to achieve zero waste illustrates Nestlé’s commitment to environmentally sustainable business practices,” said Laurent Freixe, Nestlé Executive Vice President and Zone Director for Europe. “We already have over 25 factories in Europe that do not dispose of waste into the environment.“By relentlessly eliminating all sources of waste, or by recycling or recovering energy from unavoidable residues, I am convinced we can achieve the same for all our European operations,” Freixe said.Cleaning up
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Italian textile manufacturer Canepa recently announced it has accepted the challenge set by Greenpeace during fashion week last February to create clean and sustainable fashion. The company voluntarily signed up to abide by the guidelines set forth in the Detox Solution Commitment, which aims to abolish the toxic chemicals currently used in the fashion industry by 2020. The challenge has already been accepted by a host of major retail, sportswear and luxury brands — including H&M, Mango, Patagonia and adidas — but this is the first public commitment made by a textile manufacturer.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
In this Issue in Focus, we are examining the latest tools and initiatives in sustainable supply chain management. Here, guest editor Dave Meyer offers his perspective on the state and direction of the field.
PRESS RELEASE -
BASF and Heritage Plastics, Inc. form strategic partnership to bring ecovio manufacturing to North America
Florham Park, NJ, September 24, 2013 – BASF announced today that it has formed a strategic manufacturing partnership with Heritage Plastics, Inc. to produce ecovio® certified compostable products in North America.
The partnership enables BASF to begin manufacturing ecovio biopolymers outside of Europe to better serve its customers and to further focus on growth in the rapidly developing North American market.
Production of ecovio will begin September 2013 at the Heritage facility in Picayune, Mississippi.
WASTE NOT -
This week, investors are asking General Mills to take responsibility for recycling its post-consumer packaging waste.
PRESS RELEASE -
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – Sept. 4, 2013 – Sprint (NYSE: S) has long been the industry leader in cell phone recycling. Now the wireless carrier has a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS® achievement to prove it.
This week 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.
“We are committed to keeping old cell phones out of landfills and are so pleased that our customers supported us during this record-setting week, as they regularly do throughout the year,” said Jaime Jones, senior vice president of consumer sales at Sprint.
The Tofurky Company, maker of plant-based meat alternatives, is celebrating the opening of its new LEED Platinum-certified manufacturing plant on the waterfront in Hood River, Oregon.The new plant, which will become operational in early 2014, is only the second LEED Platinum food processing plant in the USA and the sixth in the world. Environmental features of the building include an array of 400 rooftop solar panels capable of producing over 100 kWh of electricity per year, a free solar-powered electric car charging station and a green roof with a bocce court. Recycled materials are used throughout the building, which is 34% more efficient than required by the Oregon Energy Efficiency Specialty Code and 40% more efficient in its use of water.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Beginning this month, Sustainable Brands will launch a new Issues in Focus editorial channel examining sustainable supply chain management.The SB editorial team — with the help of guest editors Dave Meyer of EORM, Tara Norton of BSR and Sam Hummel of the Sustainable Purchasing Leadership Council — are seeking articles, interviews and case studies for publication throughout the year.
WASTE NOT -
Global beverage company Diageo says it is working towards zero waste to landfill targets at all of its sites by 2015, but is looking to make its waste management activities a higher priority via a five-pronged approach.The company's latest sustainability and responsibility report says it has reduced waste to landfill by 53.4 percent this year, contributing to an overall reduction of 77.9 percent against a 2007 baseline. This means that 81,099 tons of manufacturing waste is now being reused or recycled.
WASTE NOT -
A pilot project to manufacture commercially viable products from recycled polyethylene fishing nets has been completed successfully in a collaboration between Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM - the Irish Sea Fisheries Board) and Liverpool-based plastics recycler Centriforce Products, according to Centriforce’s website.
PRESS RELEASE -
Del Monte Foods recently announced the winners of its inaugural Sustainability Excellence and Education (SEED) Awards, a program that recognizes its manufacturing and distribution facilities for displaying excellence in environmental sustainability and employee education. Del Monte is proud to recognize its distribution center in Lathrop, California, pet food plant in Buffalo, New York and vegetable manufacturing plant in Sleepy Eye, Minnesota as the program’s first winners.
PRESS RELEASE -
TEMPLE, TX (July 30, 2013) – Zero landfill contribution is a daunting sustainability goal, but with its Fletcher Distribution Center also leading the way, Wilsonart is making strides in its waste reduction movement. In just three months, the distribution center went from producing 2,000 pounds of landfill waste per week to less than 150 pounds through greater efforts to recycle, compost and repurpose materials. Wilsonart’s Fletcher Distribution Center is on track to produce less than 500 pounds of landfill waste per month, a reduction of more than 90 percent.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
This video reveals the development process behind Veuve Clicquot's new potato starch packaging - not only is it 100% biodegradable but it's also isothermal, keeping your champagne cool for up to two hours without refrigeration.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Bean and rice tortilla chip maker Beanfields Snacks has achieved its certification as a B Corporation.The family-owned company joins Ben and Jerry’s, Etsy, Patagonia and hundreds of others companies worldwide using the power of business to tackle social and environmental problems.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
This post first appeared on Earth911.com on July 10, 2013.Already topping lists of the nation’s most sustainable companies, Tom’s of Maine is looking to reduce end-of-life waste from its products even more by experimenting with biodegradable packaging made from potato starch.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
In the past two months, the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh, the second-floor failure of the shoe factory in Cambodia, and most recently, the fire in the Chinese poultry plant have resulted in the deaths of some 1,500 workers in the developing world.In China alone, more than 100,000 people die annually in factories. These numbers are raising difficult questions among European and American consumers who have become accustomed to goods being manufactured abroad.
WASTE NOT -
In a global economy infamous for consumer consumption of “things,” Ecovative delivers environmentally responsible solutions with “win-win-win” materials. These materials are a win for our planet, for people and for Ecovative's profit. To achieve these universal benefits, instead of accepting the first, the fastest or the easiest option for production, our approach is to start from scratch and ask how nature accomplishes a task.
ICT AND BIG DATA -
As 3D printers are being used to make everything from pottery to human tissue, the domestic manufacturing industry is evolving into something new and robust. As manufacturing begins to step into a growth phase, we examine the brands Stratasys and Organovo and take a closer look at what the introduction of their products means to the marketplace.There is no shortage of areas that were crippled by the financial crisis, and United States manufacturing ranks high on that list. Production jobs were already fleeing overseas in favor of inexpensive labor in the mid-2000s, and the combination of the domestic consumer recession and a burst of Chinese market dominance only amplified the situation.