Circular Economy
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
Portuguese Researchers Developing Waterless Process for Biofuel Production
According to the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), the global production of biofuels has increased by over 600 percent in a decade, to more than 100 billion litres in 2011. Sounds like good news, except for the fact that the overall sustain... View More
The Newest Rule of Green Marketing And Why I've Decided to Help Consumers 'Live Lean'
In 1988, my antenna tweaked toward an emerging trend soon to be called ‘green consumerism.’ A hole in the ozone layer was discovered over Antarctica, nightly newscasts tracked the daily wanderings of the Mobro garbage barge, and air pollution cl... View More
SC Johnson Achieves Zero Landfill Status at 8th Manufacturing Facility
SC Johnson announced this week that it achieved zero waste-to-landfill status at its eighth global manufacturing facility, demonstrating progress toward its ambitious goal of reducing its global manufacturing waste by 70 percent by 2016. From 2000-20... View More
Lowe's Must Pay $18 Million in Hazardous Waste Lawsuit
Lowe's has been ordered to pay $18 million for illegally disposing hazardous waste, including pesticides, batteries, fluorescent bulbs and other toxic materials, as a result of a civil enforcement action filed Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court... View More
Desso Joins Healthy Seas Initiative
Desso, the global carpets, carpet tiles and sports pitches company, today announced its participation in 'Healthy Seas, a Journey from Waste to Wear,’ the multi-industry initiative aimed at removing marine waste, particularly fishing nets, for the ... View More
How to Redefine Capitalism-as-Usual (or 8 Steps to Becoming a Truly Sustainable Brand)
When Patagonia launched its Responsible Economy campaign last fall, VP of Environmental Initiatives Rick Ridgeway eloquently summed up the ‘elephant in the room’ of capitalism: Growth is not sustainable. Ridgeway accepts that evolving from our cu... View More
ASU Partners With Dutch City to Develop First ‘Circular Economy’ Regional Plan
Arizona State University (ASU) and the Dutch Municipality of Haarlemmermeer, along with private partners in the Haarlemmermeer region, have come together to create the world’s first regional plan based on the principles of a circular economy.The pr... View More
New Feasibility Studies Using Social Innovations to Tackle European Food Waste
European food-waste prevention project FUSIONS (Food Use for Social Innovation by Optimizing Waste-Prevention Strategies) — a four-year project (July 2012 – August 2016) funded by the European Commission framework program 7 — is working towards... View More
Disrupt or Die: Brand Leaders Talk Logistics of a Circular Economy
No one can deny that the emergence of circular economy thinking is throwing up some fascinating dynamics right now. This urgent need for systems-level redesign requires an experimental cocktail of innovation and imagination, not to mention open platf... View More
Levi's Water<Less Jeans Have Saved 770 Million Liters So Far
In celebration of World Water Day (March 22), Levi Strauss has released new stats about how much water can be saved by changing the way it makes its products: A new infographic illustrates the amount of water the company has saved through the product... View More
On Top of Everything Else, Palm Oil Production Creating Methane-Rich Wastewater
The fact that palm oil production — as the biggest driver of deforestation in Southeast Asia and parts of Africa and South America — is responsible for the rampant release of carbon emissions and the destruction of vital habitats for endangered s... View More
Hershey Achieves Zero Waste, Exceeds Water Reduction Goals Years Early
The Hershey Company today announced it has surpassed its water consumption target three years early and its zero waste to landfill (ZWL) and recycling targets two years early. Last year, the chocolate maker announced that it was on track to do just t... View More
New Report Maps Size, Scope, Disruptive Potential of Sharing Economy
Crowd Companies, a brand council primarily focusing on the collaborative economy movement, and Vision Critical, a consultancy that specializes in helping companies glean pertinent stakeholders insights, have partnered on a new report, Sharing Is the ... View More
Diamondbacks Hosting First Zero-Waste Spring Training Event in Arizona
The city of Phoenix has partnered with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Republic Services and Salt River Fields at Talking Stick to host Arizona’s first zero-waste Spring Training event as part of an effort to bring awareness to recycling and composting.T... View More
Reimagining Phoenix: A Citywide Campaign to Turn Trash Into Resources
Imagine a future where there is no such thing as trash — there are only resources. Where residents of a large metropolitan region routinely reduce, reuse, recycle and reconsider their consumption patterns by imagining the opportunities that come fr... View More
3 Startups Offering Simple, Scalable Solutions to One of the World's Biggest Problems
Wrinkled veggies. Rotting fruit. Containers that you wouldn’t dare open because of the smells that might escape. How many times have you cleaned out your refrigerator and been dismayed at how much food has spoiled? Every year, billions of dollars a... View More
Pharrell Williams, G-Star Announce Denim Collection Made from Recycled Marine Plastic
Music producer and entrepreneur Pharrell Williams announced last weekend at New York Fashion Week a new partnership with denim label G-Star Raw to create a line of jeans made with plastic collected from the oceans. "The oceans need us now,"... View More
Japanese Firm Builds First Large-Scale Power Storage System From EV Batteries
Japanese multinational corporation Sumitomo has developed and installed the world's first large-scale power storage system that utilizes used electric-vehicle (EV) batteries. Built on Yume-shima Island, Osaka, the commercial scale storage system will... View More
Drilling Company Wants to Build Roads From Fracking Waste
In an interesting "band-aid" proposition, oil and gas exploration and production company Range Resources recently announced it would like to start using the waste rock material brought to the surface at fracking sites — known as gas well ... View More
Thai Pulp Company Creating High-Quality Paper from Palm Oil Waste
Pulp Green Tech Holding (PGT), an R&D-focused company that owns Thai Gorilla Pulp Ltd., announced this week that it has successfully achieved a high-grade paper pulp made from empty palm fruit bunches, which are most often treated as waste materi... View More
