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The US Federal Trade Commission has taken action against six companies - ECM Biofilms, American Plastic Manufacturing, Champ, Clear Choice Housewares, Carnie Cap and AJM Packaging - for making false environmental marketing claims.

The clock for corporates looking to get a handle on supply chain conflict minerals is starting to tick much louder. With just one year to go before stricter reporting is required by the Securities and Exchange Commission, many companies are still struggling to trace their sources for metals such as gold, tungsten, tantalum and tin, according to an analysis of reports submitted for the most recent reporting period.

Well-designed corporate social responsibility programs increase revenue by as much as 20 percent, command price premiums up to 20 percent and increase customer commitment by as much as 60 percent, according to a study commissioned by Verizon and Campbell Soup.

Well-designed corporate social responsibility programs increase revenue by as much as 20 percent, command price premiums up to 20 percent and increase customer commitment by as much as 60 percent, according to a study commissioned by Verizon and Campbell Soup.

Australian regulators are clamping down on egg and pork producers who deliberately misuse terms such as "free range" to describe animals that actually spend much of their lives indoors. "When claims such as 'free range' or 'bred free range' are misused, consumers may be misled into paying more for a product feature that doesn't exist," said Rod Sims of the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. "Competitors are also harmed as legitimate free-range producers unfairly lose their competitive advantage." 

By sharing a pool of kegs rather than owning their own, over 200 leading craft brewers have helped reduce their collective carbon footprint by over 3 million kg of CO2e in 2013. These findings, based on a study by John Heckman, Ph.D with PE International and commissioned by MicroStar Logistics, will be used as a benchmark to help the craft beer industry further minimize its carbon footprint each year.

The Boston Green Ribbon Commission reports that Boston-based hospitals reduced total energy use by 6% in 2013 compared to 2011 levels. The reduction in energy use resulted in around $11.9 million in cost savings since 2011.

California is pushing to make computers and monitors more energy-efficient, with the California Energy Commission proposing minimum power-consumption standards that could save 2,702 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. It's estimated that the rules would save consumers $430 million a year in energy costs.

EU countries will face tougher recycling targets and a ban on burying recyclable waste in landfills under plans presented by the European Commission. The proposals are part of the Commission's Waste Targets Review, which includes updated recycling targets of 70 percent of household waste and 80 percent of packaging waste by 2030.

Retailers Bed Bath & Beyond, Nordstrom, JC Penney and Backcountry.com have been fined $1.3 million by the Federal Trade Commission for misleading environmental claims.

Stakeholders are yet again criticizing the European Commission's Circular Economy Package. The original policy, released in December of last year, was denounced as insufficiently ambitious, resulting in its dismissal and a review process over the course of 2015. The Commission adopted the revised package on December 2nd, but some claim the new policy is even weaker than the original.

Bed Bath & Beyond, Nordstrom, J.C. Penney and Backcountry.com have been accused of "bamboozling" shoppers by selling products purportedly made of eco-friendly bamboo, but that in fact were made of other, less sustainable materials. "False 'bamboo' claims are a significant problem for consumers who care about buying environmentally friendly products," said Federal Trade Commission attorney Korin Felix

Palm Oil Free Certification programme launches in UK and Australia A new certification programme has launched to validate consumer products that make no use of palm oil, which has been blamed for fuelling deforestation in Asia. Set up by a group of women experts, the Palm Oil Free Certification Accreditation Programme (POFCAP) is now in operation in Australia and the UK following approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, IP Australia, and IPO UK. Fourteen other nations have applied to introduce the label. Australia-based eco cleaning products company Clean Conscience is the first to carry the label, and the group is working with a host of other companies on certification. Despite improvements to tackle deforestation, POFCAP said "only 17% of all palm oil used can be classed as 'non-conflict'". The scheme is based on extensive research and trusted methods to trace all potential palm oil and palm oil derivative ingredients of a product back to their source. (Business Green)

Billed as a planetary health diet for both the Earth and its people, the set of guidelines put forward by the EAT-Lancet Commission gun for nothing short of a "Great Food Transformation," something they say would feed 10 billion people, save lives and avoid large-scale environmental destruction.

The Sierra Club announced that the Orlando City Commission unanimously approved a resolution mandating that the city run 100 percent on renewables by 2050. But as more cities announce these plants, are they backed up by staff and funding?

To counter the impact of unsustainable palm oil production, such as deforestation and habitat degradation, the European Parliament has approved a resolution to develop a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the EU market and phase out the use of vegetable oils that drive deforestation by 2020. It is Parliament's first resolution on the issue, but it is now up to the European Commission to act upon it.

BMW Group, Daimler, and other carmakers in the European Union would be required to improve the fuel economy of their vehicles or increase the proportion of electric cars they produce to meet 2030 carbon dioxide reduction targets proposed by the European Commission Nov. 8.