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Nestlé has invested $7 million to transform its milk factory in Modesto, CA to a "zero water" operation to avoid use of local freshwater resources. The project is expected to save around 63 million gallons of water annually and is due to be completed by the end of 2016

The United States and China contributed most to record mountains of electronic waste such as cellphones, hair dryers and fridges in 2014 and less than a sixth ended up recycled worldwide, a U.N. study said on Sunday. Overall, 41.8 million tonnes of "e-waste" - defined as any device with an electric cord or battery - were dumped around the globe in 2014 and only an estimated 6.5 million tonnes were taken for recycling, the United Nations University (UNU) said.

NPR 2010 waste ending up in different countries where it is toxic to the env. and workers.

Asia Pulp and Paper Group, one of the largest paper producers in the world, is serious about its pledge to end the clearing of natural forests, according to a progress review of the company's Forest Conservation Policy.Greenpeace International, a long-time critic of APP and the organization that conducted the progress review, is cautiously optimistic and warns that the company's commitments are likely to stand or fall by the quality of conservation and management recommendations to the company's senior management.

UPS has launched its route optimization software called ORION - this stands for on-road integrated optimization and navigation - which the company expects to save more than 1.5 million gallons of fuel and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 14,000 metric tons by the end of the year. A reduction of just one mile each day per driver over the course of a year saves UPS up to $50 million annually.

UPS reached an agreement to purchase 46 million gallons of renewable diesel for its vehicle fleet over the next 3 years, in partnership with Neste, Renewable Energy Group, and Solazyme. The company plans to replace more than 12% of its purchased gasoline with alternative fuels by the end of 2017.

Just weeks after partnering with surfer Kelly Slater on his new men's apparel line, Outerknown, upcyled fiber supplier Aquafil has announced it has partnered with Speedo USA on a take-back program that will allow Speedo's post-manufacturing swimwear scraps to be upcycled into Aquafil's 100 percent regenerated ECONYL® nylon. The take-back program gives new life to leftover fabric scraps, which would otherwise end up in landfills, and allows them to be turned back into raw nylon fiber and eventually new swimsuits. 

All of these high-profile technology companies are harvesting new revenue out of discarded and end-of-life gadgets, rather than looking at them just as liabilities that require responsible recycling. What's more, all three are among the roughly 100 organizations using Hong Kong's Li Tong Group (aka LTG) to get the job done.

Every year, the world produces more than two billion tons of waste - enough to fill a fleet of trash trucks to circle the world 24 times, according to sustainability project the World Counts. The World Bank estimates the yearly global cost of dealing with waste is more than $200 billion and predicts annual waste will exceed 11 million tons per day by 2100 if current trends continue.  But where does it all go? Whether it's an island built as a landfill or the outskirts of historic monuments, the world's waste is piling up with no end in sight. The following images offer an acute reminder of the seriousness of waste management and the desperate need to address it. It's simply not sustainable.

According to Greenpeace, the fish that sushi restaurants rely upon for their high-priced sashimi dishes is now endangered. Sixty percent of the world's tuna stocks is now harvested from the Pacific Ocean, and bluefin prized for its delicate meat fills a substantial demand in Japan. More than 70 percent of the bluefin that is caught ends up in Japan.

Amazon Web Services plans a wind farm in North Carolina that will help power Amazon data centers. The wind farm is expected to generate 670,000 megawatt-hours per year after it comes online at the end of 2016. Amazon's goal is to eventually power its operations using 100% renewable energy

Public relations firm Edelman, in an internal note, says it will no longer do business with producers of coal or organizations that seek to discredit climate change. "When you are trying in some way to obfuscate the truth or use misinformation and half-truths, that is what we would consider getting into the work of greenwashing, and that is something we would never propose or work we would support our client doing," said Michael Stewart, president and CEO for Europe. 

The 17 Global Goals (also known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs) launched late last month by the United Nations (UN) aim to achieve three main objectives in the next 15 years: end extreme poverty; fight inequality and injustice; and tackle climate change. Since the launch, various companies and leaders have pledged to do their part to achieve the goals; now, the latest push is to build worldwide public awareness of the goals through various efforts to "tell everyone" (#TellEveryone), including support from scores of celebrities:

President Obama announced that an additional 15 U.S. cities (19 cities were committed prior to this update) have signed onto the Compact of Mayors-a global platform that helps cities accelerate their sustainability and climate change resiliency efforts. The president set a goal to have at least 100 U.S. cities signed onto the Compact of Mayors by the end of November 2015.

In this Yale Environment 360 video, we present the first of a two-part e360 series, "Wasted," on the vexing global problem of food waste. Filmmaker Karim Chrobog visits two cities - Washington, D.C., and Seoul, South Korea - to examine why so much food goes to waste and what can be done about it. Washington, and the U.S. as a whole, has taken only minor steps to reduce this enormous waste and its related human and environmental costs. By contrast, Seoul has adopted innovative programs to minimize the amount of food that ends up going to landfills to rot. 

Continuing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change could cause Nepal's Everest region to lose 99% of its glaciers by the end of the century, researchers say. "The numbers are quite frightening," said Joseph Shea, a glacier hydrologist at Nepal's International Center for Integrated Mountain Development

Cereal giant General Mills announced this week that it will no longer use artificial flavors and colors in its cereals. The company said it plans to phase in the changeover and complete it by the end of the year. "Consumers increasingly want the ingredient list for their cereal to look like what they pull out of their pantry," said Jim Murphy, president of General Mills' U.S. cereal business

With December 2013 ending without rainfall, California's driest year on record is hurting crops and cattle and will likely cause more water rationing in 2014.

Danone pledged to develop a fully traceable palm oil supply chain with no links to deforestation. The company will work with the Forest Trust to map its entire palm oil supply chain by the end of 2015.

, it is making a bold pledge to remove all artificial additives - including coloring and preservatives - from its café menus by the end of 2016.