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"Just 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling globally, one third ends up in the natural environment and if current trends continue, by 2050 our oceans could contain more plastics than fish, by weight," says Rob Opsomer, lead of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's new plastics economy initiative. "We need to fundamentally rethink the way we produce, use and recover plastics, redesign plastic packaging and adopt common standards."

Bacardi's 42Below Vodka brand's circular economy initiative - the project collects used lemons, martini olives and other fruit waste from bars, turns it into liquid soap and sends it back to the bars for free - has diverted 400 kilograms of fruit waste from landfills since it launched in December 2016.

H&M has just closed the loop on itself. The Swedish apparel chain, which in February 2013 became the first retailer to launch a global textile take-back program, is set to debut its inaugural collection of products made from those same recycled fibers.

McDonald's and 24 other retailers committed to a new set of 2020 sustainability targets within their UK operations. The companies pledged to collectively reduce absolute carbon emissions associated with retail operations 25% from 2005 levels, account for 100% of their water usage, and divert over 99% of their waste from landfills.

Financial executives should become more involved in their company's sustainability reporting efforts, according to a new report. The report, from Grant Thornton and the Financial Executives Research Foundation, found that financial executives are not as involved in corporate social responsibility matters and reporting as they should be, even though the finance function's involvement in sustainability reporting adds credibility and confidence in the measurement, data collection and analysis processes.

The Harvester system doesn't just help grocers collect scraps and compostables, it helps them understand where waste occurs.

Levi's Water<Less jeans collection, designed to reduce water used in the finishing process by up to 96 percent, has saved over 770 million liters of water since its launch in 2011, the company announced.

Exposure to lead, mercury and organophosphate pesticides has led Americans to lose a collective 41 million IQ points, according to a study by a Harvard neurologist, and other common chemicals could be responsible for everything from ADHD to autism-spectrum disorders. Researchers compare the problem to climate change and say it's important for regulators to act even before the development of clear scientific evidence for safe exposure levels. "We don't have the luxury to sit back and wait until science figures out what's really going on," says environmental health researcher Philippe Grandjean

Patagonia will use 100 percent traceable down across its entire collection of down-insulated products starting in the Fall 2014 season, the outdoor apparel company says.

Nestlé, Walmart Chile, Coca-Cola Chile, PepsiCo, and Unilever have signed a partnership to reduce waste and support a new recycling network in Chile. The companies have backed the Collective Recycling Project, which aims to recycle about 1,200 metric tons of waste per year through the installation of five recycling centers in the capital of Santiago.

US commercial buildings can collectively save up to 28 billion gallons of water annually by using a suit of tools produced by AT&T and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), the organizations say.

H&M is running a series of print ads in British newspapers to promote its "Conscious" line of eco-friendly clothing, and to tout a clothing-collection service that rewards shoppers with a £5 discount voucher for each bag of used clothes they drop off at a branch of H&M. "We want to inspire people to make a difference and engage with our customers to do things that are more sustainable," says Linda Maggs, H&M's sustainability manager.

A new product could help people in remote, parched places gain easy access to clean drinking water. The Warka Water, a 30-foot-tall tower shaped like a vase, uses a straw mesh and a nylon net to capture airborne humidity in the form of dew, which it then collects for human use. The device can reportedly gather more than 25 gallons of potable water in a single day, even in desert conditions

Staples Canada has set a goal to divert 100,000 kilograms of batteries from landfills in 2014 and says it, with partner Call2Recycle, has collected and diverted 30,295 kg of batteries in the first quarter this year. The company also says, in the first two months of 2014 alone, it reduced emissions by 3,572 metric tons of CO².

A 19-year-old Dutch student had a bright idea for ridding the sea of floating trash -- and now he's built a team of 100 people and is raising $2 million to fund his invention. The system uses long, floating barriers to passively guide floating trash to collection areas and is said to be capable of eliminating all waste larger than 1 millimeter

When Mexico City's new international airport is finished in four years, it will be one of the largest in the world, spanning over half a million square meters. It will also be the most sustainable airport ever built. Instead of a group of average warehouse-like terminals, the airport will use a single giant structure wrapped in a unique skin that lets in natural light and air, collects rainwater, and provides incredible views of planes circling the sky.

A group of 29 companies and organizations launched collectively.org, a website designed to engage millennials on environmental issues by showcasing examples of sustainability in art, culture, food, and technology. CEF members involved in the initiative include Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Facebook, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Nike, Salesforce and Unilever.

Deliver Change, a UK-based non-profit focused on sustainable technology projects, launched a campaign this week called "Let's make air pollution visible," which aims to bring together businesses, policy makers and local groups to solve the problem of air pollution in the UK. Deliver Change is also piloting its air-quality monitoring network, AirSensa, to collect data on air pollution in UK cities. 

First Statewide Mattress Recycling Program Launches Connecticut has launched the country's first statewide mattress recycling program. The program - which has become a model for other states - requires retailers to collect a small ... 

The largest landfill in the US shut it gates forever on 10/31/13. After 56 years of operation, the Puente Hills Landfill in southeastern Los Angeles County has collected around 130 million tons of waste since 1957 and is 40 stories high in some places, according to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.