Top Stories
CEMEX Launches First Responsibly Sourced,
Carbon-Labeled Cement .—reliability medium.
"CEMEX announced last week that its United Kingdom operation (CEMEX
UK) is the first cement company in the world to provide certified
carbon labels for its cement using the Carbon Trust’s Carbon Reduction
Label. The label will show the carbon footprint generated by CEMEX
cements in the UK. This measurement is the amount of carbon dioxide and
other greenhouse gases generated by the cement from cradle to grave,
including the extraction of the raw materials, manufacturing,
distribution, use by customers and disposal at the end of life." See 2Sustain.
[The giant Mexican
cement manufacturer seems to be leading the way in this
sector. It is betting that customers in the UK market will value this
information, thus giving an edge in a commodity market.]
M&S 'fair price' plan rewards dairy
farmers for healthy herds.—reliability high.
"The new scheme from M&S, called Milk Pledge Plus, offers a price
based on a formula that takes into account the M&S retail milk
price. In addition, the retailer will pay farmers agreed bonuses based
on the objectives of a plan that aims to ensure high standards of
animal welfare, health and sustainability." Story in The
Guardian. [Fascinating
move to pay a premium on top of commodity price to encourage suppliers
to use more sustainable production methods. Commodity markets otherwise
can drive a "race to the bottom" of cutting costs and corners.]
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Five Lessons From Walmart's Supply Chain Work
in China.—reliability medium.
How consultants BSR helped Wal-Mart develop programs to reduce GHG
emissions of Chinese suppliers. "By expanding energy-efficiency efforts
into their supply chains, companies can quickly and substantially
decrease supplier costs, substantially reduce greenhouse gases, produce
satisfyingly quantifiable results, and provide a gateway for further
sustainability initiatives. ... energy-efficiency investments in China
are cost-effective (PDF) compared with similar initiatives in
industrialized countries." More learnings from this program. See GreenBiz
blog.
Mars test 'sustainable' chocolate in Boulder.—reliability
high.
Mars "has embarked on an ambitious goal of buying only 100 percent
certified sustainably grown cocoa by the year 2020. ... Mars chose to
expand the definition of a certification program –- one that could be
built throughout the world’s largest cocoa growing areas of West
Africa, East Asia and South America. The project, called 'Certification
Plus,' is attempting to build a coalition of the largest cocoa buyers
as well as major suppliers, while also developing buy-ins by
governments and the international donor community." One goal of the
program is to triple cocoa yields in 10 years. From Boulder
Reporter. [Not
quite sure yet what this "certification" program is. Might be more
analogous to Wal-Mart's supply chain moves than to a traditional
certification program.]
PepsiCo, Waste Management, KAB Launch Dream
Machine Recycling Initiative.—reliability high.
PepsiCo, Waste Management, Inc., and Keep America Beautiful, Inc.
yesterday announced a multi-year partnership to increase recycling in
the US through the deployments of kiosks, called Dream Machines. The
machines will manage a personal reward system that allows consumers to
collect and redeem points for each bottle or can they recycle. ... The
Dream Machines will be provided by GreenOps, LLC, a subsidiary of Waste
Management, and the rewards system will be operated by Greenopolis. See
Sustainable
Business. Facebook page here. [Presumably these
will be attractive for bottles that don't have a deposit value. Most
states don't have container-deposit laws. "Rite Aid is set to be one of
the first national retailers to sign on to the program, starting with
150 kiosks in their North Carolina locations." No container law in NC.]
Oracle and Ndevr Simplify Environmental
Reporting.—reliability high.
"Ndevr's GHG Accounting Software for International mandatory and
voluntary environmental reporting schemes, such as Australia’s National
Greenhouse Energy Reporting (NGER) legislation, and the GHG Protocol,
is now pre-integrated with both the Oracle E-Business Suite and
Oracle’s JD Edwards EntepriseOne financials applications." From Oracle
press release. [Carbon accounting
applications proliferate.]
Caught: inferior fish sold as cod and
haddock.—reliability high.
"Researchers from University College Dublin found that 25% of randomly
sampled "cod" or "haddock" belonged to an entirely different species,
with the most common substitutes being pollack, whiting or saithe. ...
'This problem is double edged because not only is the consumer being
deceived, they are also being tricked into thinking cod supplies are
still plentiful.'" Story in The
Guardian. [Supply
chain shenanigans. Where is this value being added? Low-value species
being codified.]
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
