Top Stories
How Cisco's Packaging Diet Saves $24 Million
a Year.—reliability high.
"The savings that Cisco is seeing from its packaging diet are
sensational, to say the least: The pilot program alone would lead to
$24 million in annual savings. And by focusing on packaging material
content, volume and transport container efficiency, the company will
save on materials and transportation costs as well. One product line
reduced packaging by 33 percent and increased transportation load
utilization by 50 percent resulting in $1.3 million annual savings. The
most dramatic improvement for a product was 450 percent increase in
transportation efficiency with savings of $1.8 million. Cisco's efforts
provide the necessary business case for other ITC providers to green
their packaging." Story at GreenBiz
blog.
eBay Commits to Saving Up to a Quarter of a
Million Acres of Rainforest for Consumers who Choose to Reuse.—reliability
high.
"For the first 250,000 people that pledge to reuse on eBay, the
company will protect an acre of rainforest in their name through a new
collaboration with Team Earth, a unique coalition of NGOs, private
sector companies and individuals convened by Conservation International
(CI). In tandem with the launch of the Green Team Challenge, eBay will
unveil its new green shopping hub, designed to help consumers access
the millions of green products available on the marketplace." From Business
Wire. [eBay
has had a green tinge for years, but now it is pushing green marketing.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Innovative Website Helps Suppliers Respond
to New Sustainability Requirements from Retailers.—reliability
medium.
Consulting firm Five Winds International launched a website to help
suppliers meet the requirements of such firms as Wal-Mart, Tesco and
Marks & Spencer. "The company researched retailers’ programs and
developed specific tools to help suppliers understand how to get ahead
of retailers’ requirements. Designed specifically for brand managers
and sustainability managers at consumer goods manufacturers, the new
website includes" a calculator to estimate your score on Wal-Mart's
Supplier Sustainability Assessment questionnaire and other resources.
From 2Sustain.
Five Winds page here.
Lanxess uses sugar cane power.—reliability
medium.
"Germany-based rubber company Lanxess started its new onsite
bagasse-powered cogeneration plant in Porto Feliz, Brazil. The 4.5
megawatt (MW) renewable-based power plant produces electricity and
steam for use in Lanxess' iron oxide pigment production at the site.
The project started in 2008 and cost around EUR 8 million ($10.9m).
Lanxess says the new cogeneration plant enables the company to
significantly cut CO2 emissions at the site which will be 44,000 metric
tons of CO2 equivalents less than in 2002's emissions." Accompanying
video says it allows the plant to do without fossil fuels completely.
See ICIS
Green Chemicals blog.
E.ON debuts no-win, no-fee carbon saving
service.—reliability high.
"Energy giant E.ON has this week announced the launch of a [UK]
business
service that promises to cover the upfront cost of carbon saving
projects as part of a "no-gain, no-fee" arrangement. The company has
teamed up with onsite renewables specialist Self Energy UK to provide
the new Energy Performance Guarantee (EPG) service, which emulates the
government's recently announced Pay As You Save green home loan scheme
by allowing businesses to pay back the initial upfront cost of building
improvements over time through reduced energy bills. Under the scheme,
E.ON's Sustainable Energy business and Self Energy UK will pay for the
installation of onsite renewable energy systems, such as rooftop solar
panels or wind turbines." See BusinessGreen
story.
And on the same
note: Solar Systems for Cheap from Sungevity, TXU Energy.—reliability
high.
"Sungevity has launched its new, 10-year residential solar lease with
no upfront costs. The monthly fee covers all maintenance, monitoring,
cleaning and insurance. ... TXU Energy is bringing solar power leasing
to residents in Texas through a partnership with SolarCity. There is no
upfront cost for the lease, and a monthly fee will cover the
installation, monitoring, repair and insurance for the system. TXU
Energy says that a 4-kilowatt residential system, which would be
appropriate for a three- or four-bedroom home, would cost about $35 a
month." See GreenBiz
story.
New Green Chemistry companies.—reliability
medium.
"here are several new green chemistry companies that came to my
attention." List with brief descriptions and links to Synthezyme,
Allylix, Pennakem, Butalco, Glycos Biotechnologies and Reluceo. See ICIS
Green Chemicals blog.
Government and
Regulation
China joins India with formal backing for
Copenhagen Accord.—reliability high.
"China has today joined with India in formally signing up to the
Copenhagen Accord, making it the last major emerging economy to endorse
the controversial agreement. In a letter to the UN climate change
secretariat, Chinese climate negotiator Su Wei said the UN could
"proceed to include China in the list" of countries that formally
support the agreement and have made voluntary pledges to tackle
domestic carbon emissions. The news comes just hours after Indian
environment secretary Jairam Ramesh told the country's parliament that
India had similarly agreed to be formally listed in the Copenhagen
Accord. ... Attention will now turn to Russia, which is the last
remaining major greenhouse gas emitter not to formally endorse the
agreement." See story at BusinessGreen.
California watchdog sees climate policy job
losses.—reliability high.
"California's aggressive climate change policy is likely to lead to
modest job losses in the near term due to higher energy costs and other
factors, the state's independent budget watchdog said. The Legislative
Analyst's Office was responding to a request by Republican state
Senator Dave Cogdill to study the effects of California's 2006 climate
change law, which mandates changes to cut greenhouse gas emissions to
1990 levels by 2020. ... "Reasons for this include the various economic
dislocations, behavioral adjustments, investment requirements, and
certain other factors," it said. The total effects on the economy near-
and long-term are likely to be modest, since energy costs are a
relatively small share of expenses for most people living and doing
business in California, it said." See story at Reuters.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
