The constant stream of new models, products and processes that are helping organizations extend the useful life of resources and materials while reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms
Whirlpool has announced a new recycling initiative that offers consumers a responsible alternative to throwing out their used refrigerator water filters.Whirlpool typically recommends that consumers replace their refrigerator water filter every six months for optimum performance. However, consumers can now take advantage of the company's Refresh & Recycle mail-in program; a simple way to recycle used refrigerator water filters. Recycled filters will be tested for material content and transformed into concrete aggregate used to build roads and other concrete structures. To make this all happen, Whirlpool says it is partnering with recycling company g2 revolution.
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company announced Monday it will begin using ash left over from the burning of rice husks to produce electricity and an environmentally friendly source of silica for use in its tires.
Nearly 350 global institutional investors representing over $24 trillion in assets have called on government leaders to provide stable, reliable and economically meaningful carbon pricing that helps redirect investment commensurate with the scale of the climate change challenge, as well as develop plans to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels.
Seven months ago, this series kicked off with CVS’ surprise announcement that it would no longer carry tobacco products in its retail stores. Fast forward, the company announced Sept. 3 that it had met its goal a month ahead of schedule and had a new name to match its bold, new vision of a tobacco-free America — CVS Health.
Plastic has in recent years become one of the top materials households know they should be recycling — but there’s often confusion about what’s recyclable and which material goes into which bin.
Cross-Posted from Innovation & Technology. Shell and Brazilian soccer player Pelé this week showcased a first-of-its-kind soccer field capable of capturing kinetic energy created by players' movement and combining it with nearby solar power to generate renewable electricity.Located in the heart of Morro da Mineira, a Rio de Janeiro favela, the soccer field uses 200 high-tech, underground tiles that capture kinetic energy created by the movement of the players. The energy is then stored and combined with the power generated by solar panels next to the field to convert into renewable electricity for the new floodlights, giving everyone in the favela a safe and secure community space at night.
Dairy farmer Chris Wagner, owner of the Green Dream Farm in Enosburg Falls, Vermont, has a new setup that provides him with low-cost bedding for his herd and reduces the greenhouse gas produced by his cows. Wagner was able to install the technology by partnering with fellow Vermonters NativeEnergy, a carbon-offset and project-development company, and Ben & Jerry’s, the iconic ice cream maker.Wagner’s new equipment processes his cow manure and then composts it. The resulting product is sanitary and makes excellent bedding for his milking herd. As a result, Wagner will no longer have to purchase wood shavings and will see significant savings in the cost of bedding.
In 2013, legislation quietly passed within the UK that would require companies listed on the London Stock Exchange to disclose global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) within their publically available annual Directors’ Report. These new reporting rules made the UK the first country to institute mandatory carbon reporting as of October 2013.
In her new book, This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate (due in stores September 16), author and social activist Naomi Klein espouses that capitalism, rather than carbon, is the core issue and key driver in imminent climate disaster. Klein argues that current carbon trading programs, for example, offer perverse motivation, enabling manufacturers to produce excess greenhouse gases, which they are then compensated to reduce. Therefore, a fight against climate change is a fight against the inherent values of capitalism.
Novelis, a global leader in rolled aluminum products, is in the process of shifting its entire business model from a traditional linear model to a closed-loop or circular model. The company is embracing an entirely new way of thinking and operating in order to radically transform itself — and, in the process, reap the brand value associated with being a clear leader on that front in its industry.In 2013, Novelis introduced evercan™, the first independently certified, high-recycled-content (currently 90 percent, with a goal of 100 percent) aluminum beverage can sheet, while committing to making it available at no extra cost.
Ford’s Oakville Assembly plant now sends no operational waste-to-landfill, an achievement that gives Ford Motor Company the distinction of becoming landfill-free at all its manufacturing facilities in Canada.Oakville Assembly is the first Ford assembly plant in North America to achieve this environmental designation.The Essex Engine Plant received landfill-free status in 2012 and Windsor Engine Plant in 2013. A total of 21 Ford facilities around the globe maintain zero waste-to-landfill status. By Ford’s definition, this means that those facilities do not send any operational waste to a landfill.
Bank of America has announced two new initiatives in its efforts to help address California’s severe drought conditions - a $250,000 grant to the Pacific Institute, which will go towards the Institute’s drought research and response effort; and the expansion of xeriscaping, or drought-tolerant landscaping, at six of its California banking centers.
UTZ Certified’s Energy from Coffee Wastewater project has proven that it is possible to generate energy, tackle climate change and protect water resources by treating discharges from coffee mills. The project started in 2010 with the goal of addressing environmental and health problems caused by the wastewater produced in the coffee industry.Tailor-made coffee wastewater treatment systems and solid-waste treatment mechanisms were installed at 19 coffee farms — eight in Nicaragua, 10 in Honduras and one in Guatemala. The positive impact of the project on over 5,000 people in the region has inspired UTZ Certified to replicate the initiative in other countries.
“Affairs are easier of entrance than of exit; and it is but common prudence to see our way out before we venture in.”AesopThe old phrase tells us that new and old ideas find a natural balance, that the introduction of the new requires that it is also “out with the old.” Indeed, sustainability should be about saying “let’s do something new” rather than “stop doing that old thing.” However, most sustainability practitioners and campaigners spend much of their lives fighting to change existing behaviour. Much time is spent rationalizing unsustainability, rather than doing as Buckminster Fuller advised:
Staples Advantage, the business to business division of Staples, has partnered with Electronic Recyclers International (ERI) to launch a technology recycling service that makes it easier for for businesses to recycle old electronics.
The voices of the world’s younger generation — who potentially have the most to lose from climate change — have predominantly been left unheard in the whole debate about how (or if) to deal with it. Former Vice President Al Gore hopes to change that, however, with the launch of a new campaign offering young people the opportunity to have their say when the world’s leaders meet in New York next month for the UN Climate Summit.
Novelis, global producer of aluminum rolled products, has announced a $106 million investment that will add 100,000 metric tons of coating capacity and 190,000 metric tons of recycling capacity at its Pindamonhangaba facility in São Paulo, Brazil.The new coating line is designed specifically for beverage can end stock, the company says. The addition of this 100,000 ton line will double the market's capacity to supply coated can end stock and enable Novelis to deliver directly to can customers in the region, a function previously provided by a third-party partner. Novelis expects to begin shipping commercial product from the new line in the coming months.
If all of the municipal solid waste (MSW) that currently is put into landfills each year in the US were diverted to waste-to-energy (WTE) power plants, it could generate enough electricity to supply 12 percent of the US total, according to a new study by the Earth Engineering Center (EEC) of Columbia University.This could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by at least 123 million tons of carbon dioxide per year, the report says.
McDonald’s Pacific Sierra Region has created a waste diversion execution manual that is resulting in an estimated diversion of 70 cubic yards of waste from landfills each week, according to the company’s 2014 Global “Best of Green” report.The manual enables restaurants to deploy mixed recycling, organics recycling, or both, by providing checklists, shift huddles, and crew/customer engagement and education materials. The manual was initially piloted in 11 California Bay Area restaurants in Alameda County and is being replicated in additional restaurants throughout the Pacific Sierra Region.
The UK Environmental Audit Committee has released a new report – Growing a Circular Economy: Ending the Throwaway Society – which calls for lower taxes for businesses that repair or reuse goods; mandatory municipal waste separation systems; longer warranty periods for consumer goods; banning food waste from landfills; and increased funding for agencies that promote transitioning to a circular economy.The Committee was appointed by the British House of Commons to review government policies and programs in terms of their contribution to environmental protection and sustainable development.