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Nike has opened its first water-free facility, which will end the use of water and process chemicals from fabric dyeing at its Taiwanese contract manufacturer Far Eastern New Century. The process, which Nike has dubbed ColorDry, reduces dyeing time by 40 percent, energy use by about 60 percent and the required factory footprint by 25 percent compared to traditional methods, the company says. ColorDry products will be introduced to the marketplace in early 2014

The process, which Nike has dubbed ColorDry, reduces dyeing time by 40 percent, energy use by about 60 percent and the required factory footprint by 25 percent compared to traditional methods, the company says.

Earlier this year, Hershey set a target to source at least 50 percent of its global cocoa supply from certified and sustainable sources by 2015 - a full year ahead of its original schedule. Hershey has committed to source 100 percent certified and sustainable cocoa by 2020.

A local environmental group slams the plan for the just-approved 58-acre facility, which will eventually employ 2,800 people but faces months of hearings before breaking ground

Conservative estimates of the savings associated with retention project more than $5,000 per year in savings for the foundation.

Many companies have taken extensive steps internally to reduce their risk of deforestation; often, though, the efforts are disjointed in relation to supply chain activity and consequently do not easily ladder up to meet an umbrella goal like that of CGF. TSC's KPIs provide a much-needed solution for this.

The Kellogg Company is saving $62,000 per year after implementing an energy-efficient commercial cooling system made by Coolerado. The system enabled the facility to reduce energy consumption by 88%.

The Department of Agriculture is awarding more than $5.6 million in grant payments to 220 advanced-biofuel companies under its Advanced Biofuel Payment Program. The agency is also handing out $4 million in grants to bioenergy projects under its National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The grants are part of the Obama administration's "all-of-the-above" approach to U.S. energy policy, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The American Business Act on Climate Pledge has been signed by a number of leaders in the biofuel industry, including Abengoa Bioenergy, DSM North America, Novozymes, Pacific Ethanol and Poet. A total of 81 companies, of which at least 11 have biofuel industry connections, signed the document to show their dedication to the fight against climate change. Other biofuel companies that signed the pledge were Aemetis, Cargill, Fulcrum BioEnergy, Schneider Electric, Siemens and Syngenta/Quad County Corn Processors

The Christmas gifts have been delivered, and Secret Santa is done. Now, the work begins for Optoro, a start-up company that aims to reduce the financial and environmental costs of another great holiday tradition: returns. Little known to shoppers, however, is that a majority of returned items never make it back to retailers' shelves. Instead, the items wind their way through liquidators, wholesalers and resellers, many of the purchases ending up in landfills. According to some estimates, as much as two million tons of returned items - most of it undamaged merchandise - are thrown away each year, enough to fill over 200,000 garbage trucks.

Products that don't use recycled plastic will cost 10 percent more in the future, according to a government plan.

Almost 21% of the global supply of palm oil is now certified as responsible and sustainable by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Demand for RSPO-certified palm oil is growing due to many factors, including more food companies pledging to cut deforestation in their supply chains, SCS Global Services reports.

BASF has partnered with Cargill, Procter & Gamble and German Development Agency GIZ to build a sustainable and transparent supply chain for coconut oil in the Philippines and Indonesia. The partnership is organized under a German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) program.