Waste Not
The latest in the growing number of efforts directed at reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms.
Jackie Chan Highlights Circular Economy ‘Green Hero’ Arthur Huang in New Documentary
On April 21st, at the Palace Cinema in Raffles City, Changning, Shanghai, I attended the premiere of the first of a three-part documentary series, “Jackie Chan’s Green Heroes” — a joint project by the action movie star, National Geographic Partners LLC and Buick — which captures stories of sustainability innovators to inspire and educate the public.
Over 1M People Join Greenpeace Call to Corporates to #BreakFreeFromPlastic
Around the globe, over one million individuals have signed petitions, taken to stores and restaurants, and posted photos of ridiculous packaging on social media to call out corporations for their massive single-use plastic footprints.
Trending: Tees, Jeans, App Unlock New Ways to Avoid Waste in the Textile Industry
Water and waste are issues at nearly every step of the textile and apparel lifecycles. Luckily, solutions are being developed across the board.
Q&A: Fuji Xerox on the Circular Approach That Redefined Its Business
Long before concepts such as future-fit and circular became buzzwords, Fuji Xerox was already busy redefining business as usual and demonstrating the opportunities to be harnessed by embracing a more sustainable, resource-efficient business model.
Colgate, TerraCycle Expand Annual Recycled Playground Challenge
In their biggest contest yet, TerraCycle, Colgate and ShopRite’s annual partnership is offering students across the eastern US the chance to win a playground for their school made entirely of recycled materials. It is the fifth edition of the Recycled Playground Challenge, which aims to teach school students, teachers and communities about preserving healthy smiles and a healthy environment.
Will Bottle Deposits Help or Hinder the UK’s War on Plastic?
With the public mood turning against plastic waste, British policymakers now have a new cause to rally behind.
New Soma X Parley Bottle Latest Bid to Chip Away at Marine Plastic Pollution
Today, Soma and Parley for the Oceans announced their exclusive and limited-edition product for Starbucks; the world’s first reusable water bottle with a sleeve made using Parley Ocean PlasticTM, a material created from upcycled plastic intercepted from marine environments.
Trending: Dutch Task Force, Startups Among Latest to Join Food Waste Fight
As much as one third of the world’s food is being wasted. The United States alone wastes roughly 63 million tons, or $218 billion, of food annually. As awareness of this issue has grown over in recent years, a variety of initiatives have taken root.
Cleaning Up Courses: How to Bring Distance Events Closer to the Sustainability Finish Line
On foot, by bicycle, through water and combinations of the above, distance races such as marathons and ocean races are a global phenomenon. Running and cycling races have become a big business in recent years, due to the opportunity for sponsorship and the brand affinity that comes with it.
Dell’s ‘Closed-Loop’ Jewellery a Circular Economy Success, But a Drop in the Sustainability Bucket
Earlier this year, tech giant Dell announced an innovative partnership with actress Nikki Reed’s jewellery company, Bayou with Love, which spawned a new line of fine jewellery made using recycled gold from the motherboards of end-of-life Dell computers. The juxtaposition of fine, intricate jewels with old computers has driven media interest and raised the issue and importance of sustainability within the tech sector. ‘The Circular Collection’ has been positioned as an example of circular economy success, but how deep does this move go?
Coke, Dow, Kimberly-Clark Join Coalition to Tackle Ocean Plastics in SE Asia
Corporate action to tackle the mounting problem of ocean plastics is on the rise with new commitments and cross-industry initiatives cropping up regularly.
Trending: The Future of Mobility Is Circular
Discussion around the future of mobility is dominated by discourse around the shift away from fossil fuels, but this is only one small part of a more complex conversation. Even clean energy vehicles have impacts on environmental and human health. China’s industry ministry, General Motors and Goodyear are taking these often-overlooked impacts into account by focusing on waste recovery and prevention approaches that seek to establish closed-loop systems.
Garnier, TerraCycle Launch Campaign to Divert 1M Beauty Empties from Landfill
Despite the rise of recyclable packaging for beauty and personal care products, only half of US consumers responsibly dispose of these products. To boost bathroom recycling, beauty brand Garnier has teamed up with TerraCycle and DoSomething.org to launch the second year of Rinse, Recycle, Repeat, a national recycling campaign and college campus competition that aims to educate young people on how to responsibly recycle their beauty and personal care products.
Super Bowl LII Hits Ambitious Waste Diversion Target to Become Zero-Waste Event
Earlier this year, the NFL, PepsiCo, Aramark, U.S. Bank Stadium, SMG and the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority announced an ambitious plan to make Super Bowl LII a zero-waste event. The results are finally in and it’s official — the effort was a major win. Ninety-one percent of all trash generated on game day from 67,612 fans was responsibly recovered through composting, recycling and reuse. This marks the highest diversion rate achieved at U.S.
Circular Economy 101: Waste Not, Get More
Across the globe, about 50 percent of CO2 emissions are tied to materials — goods that often produce a significant amount of physical and financial waste.
Trending: Startups, Government Put Planned Obsolescence in Its Place
As increasing emphasis is being placed on circularity, the concept of planned obsolescence is being called into question. While it has long been criticized by consumers, brands and governments are finally beginning to recognize that the short-term strategy has no place in the low-carbon economy — and are taking action to promote transparency and resource efficiency.
Circularity, Sustainability Take Hold in Toy Industry
The closed-loop conversation is often one that focuses on e-waste, fashion and single-use plastics, but LEGO Group and Antwerp-based design furniture brand ecoBirdy are aiming to change that by bringing the concept of circularity and sustainability to the toy front. Supported by the EU’s program for the competitiveness of SMEs (COSME), ecoBirdy has launched its first collection of design furniture for kids made entirely from recycled plastic toys. The launch follows two years of research exploring how to sustainably recycle plastic toys.
ProSUM Urban Mining Tool Maps Critical Raw Materials in EU E-Waste
Resource scarcity and the rise of the circular economy are inspiring businesses, industry associations and governments to develop new ways to recover precious and critical raw materials (CRMs) from waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The Urban Mine Platform, a database of valuable materials for “urban mining,” is the public and private sectors’ latest attempt to take on the challenge.
Next Step to Eliminating Food Waste? Making It Relevant, Surmountable to Farmers
Globally, food loss and waste prevention efforts at farm and production level are, in many respects, still in their infancy. Many growers around the world are not required to record or report on their post-harvest crop losses — the dearth of data in this area makes it hard to determine exactly how much food never makes it beyond the farm gate.
Trending: New Tools, Rules, Partnerships Take Food Waste, Hunger Head On
Around 52 million tons of food are wasted each year in the United States despite 1 in 7 US citizens lacking reliable access to sufficient, affordable and nutritious food. While raising consumer awareness is an important food waste reduction strategy, interventions at the corporate level have a crucial role to play in addressing the issue on a large scale.