The Next Economy
The myriad new models and processes aimed at fixing the flaws in capitalism and laying the groundwork for practical, alternative economic frameworks designed to benefit all stakeholders.
Unilever, EU Build on Plans for Plastics Recycling, But Problems Plague UK
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.
Closed Loop Fund Launches FlexPack Recovery Challenge, Gets $10M Infusion from Amazon
Amazon today announced that it will invest $10 million in Closed Loop Fund to support recycling infrastructure in the United States. The investment will increase the availability of curbside recycling for 3 million homes in communities across the country, making it easier for customers to recycle and further develop end markets for recycled commodities. The investment will divert 1 million tons of recyclable material from landfill into the recycling stream and eliminate the equivalent of 2 million metric tons of CO2 by 2028 — equivalent to shutting down a coal-fired power plant for six months.
£1.4M Prize Awaits UK Circular Plastics Flagship Projects
A new £1.4 million flagship projects competition was launched at the inaugural annual meeting for members of The UK Plastics Pact, held in London yesterday.
Why I’m Joining Lyft
Transformations can happen quickly. Some take time. With so much talk about the growth of cities, the Internet of things, the role of regulation in an era of rapid technological change, rising congestion and the need to open the doors of opportunity wider to all segments of the population, change is needed.
EVRYTHNG, CPG Brands Partner to Take Consumer Guesswork Out of Recycling
EVRYTHNG — the IoT platform that makes every consumer product intelligent, interactive and trackable — is now powering a first-of-its-kind recycling scheme providing CPG brands and retailers with vital insights to consumer recycling habits and behaviors.
ACCA Outlines 12 Characteristics Essential to Future Business Model Innovation
A new report published this week by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) identifies 12 characteristics behind business model design, that are being combined by organizations around the world in different ways to create new sources of value.
Global Practitioners Gather to Compare Notes on Redesigning the #GoodLife
Last year, the Sustainable Brands community gathered around the world throughout the year to share insights on how they – and their customers – were “redefining the good life.” This year, the conversation has progressed from the ‘what’ to the ‘how’ of designing the sustainable future in which we all want to live.
Circulate Capital Incubator Network to Accelerate Ocean Plastic Solutions in Asia
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
We Must Make Stopping Climate Change Profitable
Capitalism will save the planet. And I’ll tell you why. This week, leaders from around the world have descended on San Francisco for Gov. Jerry Brown and Michael Bloomberg’s Global Climate Action Summit (GCAS) and its affiliate events, to celebrate past and commit to future actions to curb climate change. The hope is that, collectively, these commitments from states, cities, businesses and other organizations will be enough to counter the current climate policy regression in Washington. No doubt, commitments will be made — but talk is cheap unless we can find a way to make the walk profitable.
How Young People Are Changing the Fashion Industry
New York Fashion Week is here and there is a growing fashion movement that has the potential to fundamentally change the industry: sustainable fashion. If designers want to endear themselves to Gen Z, they’ll take note of this important shift.
Bold Climate Action Could Deliver US$26T by 2030, But Only If We Hurry
A major report released by the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate finds that we are significantly underestimating the benefits of cleaner, climate-smart growth. Bold climate action could deliver at least US$26 trillion in economic benefits through to 2030, compared with business as usual.
Brands: Time to Address the Growth vs Happiness Conundrum
Materialism is making us miserable. That’s the unavoidable conclusion from decades of research into the links between consumption and wellbeing. Buying stuff just doesn’t make life feel any better. Advertising paints a picture of what we don’t have and fuels frustration and insecurity. What does this mean for businesses that aspire to grow? How can brands improve their impacts on the world whilst also selling us more?
Q&A: How Rubicon Global Is Championing a Zero-Waste World
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.
Developing a Circular Narrative: The Case of Relooping Fashion
It is often said that transitioning towards a circular economy requires a number of changes in the way businesses operate. For example, the linear supply chain will need to be re-organised into a circular ecosystem, which decouples growth from the use of virgin raw materials and resources.
Impossible Foods Details Progress Toward Eliminating Animals from Food by 2035
Today, food tech startup Impossible Foods published its 2018 impact report, an annual update on its mission, business and strategic roadmap.
Blockchain Will Make Carbon Visible for Everybody
To understand, and report on, an organization’s carbon footprint is a complex undertaking — to say the least.
Report: Slavery, Labor Abuses in SE Asian Supply Chains Set to Spiral in Age of Automation
Drastic job losses in South East Asia resulting from the onset of robot manufacturing are predicted to lead to a dramatic increase in slavery and labor abuses in global supply chains, unless governments take early measures to prevent automation threatening millions of livelihoods, states a new report by Verisk Maplecroft.
Trending: C&A, Looptworks, John Lewis Spin Out More Circular Apparel Solutions
Increasing circularity in the apparel sector will require a variety of initiatives and some of the most valuable ways to bridge the implementation gap will be to provide funding, design new products with closed-loop design and launch take-back programs for would-be-waste items. Announcements on Monday revealed that these are exactly the contributions being made by the C&A Foundation, Looptworks and John Lewis.
When Will We Truly Begin Designing for Circularity?
If I took one thing away from the Circular Economy sessions at SB’18 Vancouver, it was the need to design for the end of a product’s first life. Note I said, “first life,” because ideally it will be endlessly recycled. That said, as new products come online, designers need to be asking, what materials are we using? Can the product itself be reused like the very cool fashion pieces curated by Beyond Retro (a Bank & Vogue LTD company), or will it be recycled and recreated like Brambles’ packaging solutions?
How Brands Can Leverage Sustainability, Social Inclusion to Create ‘Good’ Cities
This week at Sustainable Brands’ flagship event, SB’18 Vancouver, over 2,000 attendees are sharing and exploring the many ways organizations are helping to “redesign the good life.” One aspect of the good life is cross-sector collaboration, such as brand-city-organization partnerships to build resilient communities, technologies and systems that focus on social inclusion.