Top Stories
The View from the C-Suite: Waste Management
CEO David Steiner.—reliability medium.
Interview: "Our larger industrial customers have been driving the
change. They are motivated for environmental and for business reasons.
Walmart was one of the first. They put out 450,000 pounds of trash a
day. They are looking for innovative ways to reduce costs and
recognized the potential value in their waste. ... So we said, 'The
interest in getting value from waste is not going be isolated to
Walmart; it's going to spread to all of our large customers and beyond.
It's going to be big and we need to figure out how we can make money on
it.' We are doing just that." More on WM's strategy. From GreenBiz
blog.
UPS' Latest Eco Gambit Involves Right-sizing
Packaging.—reliability high.
"UPS is launching another service that involves using the right size
of package, without overusing packing materials. The Eco Responsible
Packaging Program will look at shipments in three areas: damage
prevention, right-sizing packaging and using more sustainable packing
materials, according to a press release. Customers who participate in
the program will be able to market their shipments as environmentally
responsible by virtue of being able to display the UPS Eco Responsible
logo." Story at Environmental
Leader.
Companies,
Industries, Markets and Supply Chains
Walmart Canada Pledges to Sell Only
Sustainably-Sourced Fish by 2013.—reliability medium.
"Walmart Canada has announced a new Sustainable Seafood Policy which
will ensure that by 2013, only sustainably-sourced fish will be sold in
its stores. The new policy is comprehensive and will cover all frozen,
wild and farmed fish." Gives specific actions. See 2Sustain.
Paper company loses green certification
after rainforest destruction in Indonesia.—reliability high.
"The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), a global certifier of
sustainably managed forest, has dropped another Indonesian company for
the destruction of rainforests. Asia Paper Resources International
Limited (APRIL), has had its certification suspended due to evidence of
conversion of rainforests for acacia plantations, the destruction of
'High Conservation Value Forest', draining peatlands, as well as
continuing conflicts with local communities. The decision was made by
the Rainforest Alliances Smartwood, an accreditation program with the
FSC." Story in Mongabay.
Bio-succinic invades Asia.—reliability
medium.
"Bioamber's bio-based succinic acid products are already being spread
out in Asia with the help of DNP's acquisition of Sinoven Biopolymers
last February. Sinoven will manufacture modified polybutylene succinate
(mPBS) in China using Bioamber's bio-succinic acid. ... This morning,
Bioamber announced that it has chosen Japanese chemical trading
firm Mitsui & Co. to further distribute their bio-succinic acid
throughout Asia." From ICIS
Green Chemicals blog.
Intuit Spreads the Sustainability Love for
Small Businesses.—reliability high.
"Intuit launched a small business sustainability assessment this
month, hoping to shine a spotlight on the unsung good deeds performed
by local companies throughout the U.S. The company, famous for its
TurboTax, Quicken and QuickBooks software, teamed up with nonprofit B
Lab to create the Local Hero Challenge, a 10-question assessment
covering five key areas: accountability, community, consumers,
employees, and environment." It gives businesses a way to promote their
greenness with customers. See GreenBiz.
Nissan Energy Efficiency Upgrades at TN
Factory Save $10M.—reliability high.
"Nissan has reduced energy use by $10 million a year at its Smyrna,
Tenn., factory," by taking such steps as "- Installation of
variable-frequency drives - Reduction in the number of air compressors
- Lowering of air pressure - Chiller upgrades and replacement -
Lighting fixture and controls upgrades By shutting down production line
robots when not in use over the weekend, the factory is saving 22,000
kilowatt hours." Story in Environmental
Leader.
Coca-Cola – influencing global emissions.—reliability
high.
"Coca-Cola Europe’s director of public affairs, Salvatore Gabola,
talks about how the company is influencing global emissions." Coca-Cola
calculates that refrigeration makes up 38% of its lifecycle emissions.
"Just 5% is due to direct emissions of greenhouse gases, namely the
Hydrofluorocarbons (HFC) used in foam insulation and as a refrigerant
gas. ... In Europe, 70% of all our new chillers will be HFC-free as of
this year, and today we can say that 100% will be HFC-free by 2015."
The other 95% is from electricity consumption. "By installing software
that detects motion in opening patterns, the cooler goes into standby
mode when a shop isn't being used. The chill cabinet uses internal and
external sensors to calculate the time to reach optimal temperature for
when the shop opens in the morning and similarly drops temperature at
the end of the day. ... This saves approximately 35% on emissions,
which of course varies from model to model, but is generally the case
for a single door cooler." Other actions. See FoodBev.
[Crossposted from HaraBara.com courtesy of HaraBara, Inc. Copyright © 2010 HaraBara, Inc.]
