WALKING THE TALK -
2019 is slated to be a big year for Swedish automaker Volvo, which has announced that in two years’ time, it will no longer produce vehicles that only have internal combustion engines.
Between 2019 and 2021, Volvo will launch five fully electric cars, three of which will be Volvo models and two of which will be high performance electrified cars from Polestar, the company’s performance car arm.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT -
Longtime SB Corporate Member, John Frey (@John_Frey), is a Sustainable Innovation Technologist at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. He applies his diverse set of degrees in Safety Engineering, Divinity, and Missional Leadership to help customers come up with technological solutions to solve complex challenges while reducing environmental impact.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
If we could transport ourselves to Sicily about 2,250 years ago, we might get there just in time to hear Archimedes famously say, “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I shall move the world.” He couldn’t have imagined, almost 23 centuries down the road, how urgently we would need to pull every lever available to save the health of that world and its inhabitants.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
We live in a volatile, uncertain and complex world. With threats of climate change, rising income inequality, social unrest, resource scarcity and ecological degradation predicted to affect society’s progress, leaders and the institutions they run must play new roles to realize a sustainable future.
Breakthrough innovation is essential, requiring paradigm shifts and pivots in how we operate and function as a society.
WASTE NOT -
New solutions to the world’s massive food waste problem are popping up almost daily. The latest innovations to arise come in the form of a digital organic waste platform in France and a card that prolongs the life of perishable food items.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Greenpeace East Asia has released a new IT product guide ranking tech giants according to iFixit’s repairability score. Seventeen IT brands were represented in the study and over 40 best-selling smartphones, tablets and laptops launched between 2015 and 2017 were assessed.
CLEANTECH -
As a global transportation and logistics company, UPS is all too familiar with the myriad of challenges greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pose to both the environment and the global economy. To reduce impacts and remain competitive in an ever-changing economic landscape, the company, since 2009, has been making moves to drive innovation and spur change within the shipping industry — including investing in alternative fuels, advanced technology vehicles and renewable energies.
PRESS RELEASE -
The US city of Las Vegas has announced a partnership with networking giant Cisco aimed at speeding its progress towards becoming a smart connected city.
Cisco’s Smart+Connected digital platform will bring real-time Internet of Things (IoT) device and sensor data to city leaders to quickly and efficiently manage crowd, environmental and traffic control data and decision support.
The city said using technology to create a connected community -- while improving resident and visitor safety, increased sustainability and insight into traffic patterns and transportation infrastructure -- is the next step in becoming a smart city.
It has already invested $500m in smart infrastructure, having charted a course to become a smart city by 2025.
PRESS RELEASE -
Your laptop is a bit slow. The display could be better, and it’s too heavy anyway. It still works, but you feel it’s time for a new one. So you add the old one to the pile of discarded gadgets in your basement and wonder whether there isn’t a better way. The answer is yes, there is! Labdoo.org can help.
Labdoo, a global volunteer organization, will transform your old laptop into an educational tool for someone else and bring the device to children in developing countries or to refugees, for example.
PRESS RELEASE -
BillerudKorsnäs and Uppsala university have initiated a multi-annual collaboration to develop paper-based electrode materials. Based on achievements at Uppsala university in combination with BillerudKorsnäs competence in industrial production and packaging development, the future's sustainable fiber-based packaging will be explored.
The co-operation, which lasts three years, has been agreed between BillerudKorsnäs and Uppsala university Holding and aims to further develop research knowledge from Uppsala university to create energy storage in fiber structures by coating cellulosic fibers with electrically conductive polymers.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Google and Common Ground — an alliance of six major advertising holding companies — believe Generation Z could be the key to unlocking an SDG-aligned future. To drive widespread awareness and mobilize action among mission-driven youth around the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda, the two organizations have launched The Common Future Project action campaign.
WASTE NOT -
With one-third of the world’s food — approximately 1.3 billion tons — lost or wasted, finding solutions that keep waste out of landfills is just as important as stopping food waste at the source. Two new technologies could, however, hold the key to a zero-food-waste future.
WALKING THE TALK -
While tech heavy-hitter IBM and beverage giant Coca-Cola rev up efforts to kick climate change to the curb, the UK private sector continues to lag behind in cutting CO2 emissions.
IBM has ticked two major to-dos off of its sustainability checklist. Set in February 2015 and assigned by the American Business Act on Climate Change Pledge, the company exceeded both commitments four years ahead of schedule.
CLEANTECH -
Brewers across the country are embracing new technology to tackle some of the industry’s most pressing sustainability challenges: emissions and water.
References to carbon capture are often reserved for discussions of power plants and coal, but the process could hold promise for the recovery of CO2 at craft breweries. Engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California have developed a technique to filter CO2 from power plants that could help breweries cut costs and reduce their CO2 emissions.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Urban mobility is undergoing a dramatic transformation with the emergence of new technology and transportation services. The pace and extent of this transformation will vary from city to city and depends largely on factors such as density, household income, the state of existing infrastructure, pollution and congestion levels, as well as local governance capabilities.
WASTE NOT -
IKEA has been making considerable progress towards its sustainability goals by embracing disruptive design and investing in sustainable materials. While the Swedish retailer has largely focused its environmental efforts on its home goods portfolio, the brand is now turning its attentions to tackling food waste.
WALKING THE TALK -
First articulated in 2013, Dell’s Legacy of Good Plan builds on the idea that technology should be a driver of human progress, unlocking opportunities for health, happiness and prosperity. Now in its fourth year, Dell has introduced an update to the plan that recognizes key CSR achievements for the company following its merger with EMC. 2020 Legacy of Good outlines Dell’s long-term commitment to society, team members and the environment and reveals considerable progress on the tech company’s 2020 goals.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
As a manager for Cisco's corporate social responsibility programs, I focus on public-private partnerships that support an inclusive digital economy, specifically by applying technology to create positive, sustainable change in education and workforce development. At SB’17 Detroit, during a panel on “How to Use Technology and Creativity to Boost People Upward in a Rapidly Changing Job Market,” I shared insights into one of these programs, the Cisco Networking Academy, which is providing digital skills that boost people upward in today’s rapidly changing job market.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Plastics continue to make headlines as brands uncover new and creative solutions that transform trash into profitable products. Building on its efforts to reinvent how products are designed, manufactured and used, HP Inc. has launched Original HP ink cartridges made from plastic bottles recycled in Haiti.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE: DOW) and Koehler Paper Group are the recipients of a 2017 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award. The award was given in the design of greener chemicals category for the development of ROPAQUE™ NT-2900 Opaque Polymer for BLUE 4EST™ Thermal Paper. This is the 11th Presidential Green Chemistry Award Dow and its affiliates have received since the EPA introduced the award in 1996.