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The EU's Plastics Strategy aims to cut out non-recyclable plastics by 2030, while cutting down on single-use plastics and restricting microplastics, all by establishing a new circular economy around the material. The strategy lays out a few key steps to achieve this. The first is to introduce new rules on packaging that improve their recyclability and increase the demand for recycled plastics, thereby making recycling profitable for businesses.

US toy firm Radio Flyer has revealed its safer material strategy in a webinar this week on the Chemical Footprint Project (CFP).

World Resources Institute launched the Better Buying Lab, a joint initiative with Google, Hilton Worldwide, and others to develop behavior change strategies that foster increased consumption of sustainable foods.

London's Heathrow Airport has unveiled a new sustainability leadership strategy designed to make Heathrow a center of excellence in the aviation industry. The strategy announces ambitious goals to reduce the airport's and the industry's environmental impacts while maximizing economic opportunities throughout the UK. Plans include a new R&D incubator, an ambition for growth from a new runway to be carbon neutral and at least halving the number of late-running departures to reduce noise for local communities.

The American electorate just picked one of the most powerful climate change deniers on the planet as the steward of U.S. environmental strategy for at least the next four years. The good news is that sustainable business leaders have more clarity about what to expect from the next administration. It's now time to prioritize what comes next.

The European Commission's newly released Roadmap for the EU Strategy on Plastics in a Circular Economy outlines the problems Europe is facing with plastics and four areas on which the Plastics Strategy will focus later this year, including improving the economics, quality and uptake of plastic recycling and reuse. But the Break Free From Plastic Movement says the Commission's plan fails to get to the root of the plastics problem.

General Mills shareholders will vote this week on a resolution asking the company to assess its post-consumer waste strategies. The resolution was filed by nonprofit As You Sow.

Four years after launching its corporate responsibility strategy, Travel with Purpose, Hilton Worldwide says its investments in global partnerships and sustainability programs is not only driving positive social impact, but also supporting long-term business success. Hilton discusses its strategy and provides updates on its global impact in its fourth annual corporate responsibility report.

Marks & Spencer has launched Plan A 2025, a new three-pillar sustainability strategy that aims to support 1,000 communities, help 10 million people live happier, healthier lives, and move the company closer to becoming a zero-waste business. Under the strategy, the company has also committed to reducing operational GHG emissions 80% by 2030, sourcing all of its key raw materials sustainably by 2025, ensuring all of its packaging is 'widely recyclable' by 2022, and more.

At plants in Wisconsin and Holland, SC Johnson -- maker of cleaning products such as Mr Muscle and Pledge -- is using on-site wind turbines and advanced waste-reduction strategies to reduce its footprint. The aim is to develop a network of zero-waste, 100%-renewable facilities around the world. "Every place should be a better place because we are there," says CEO Sam Johnson.

In addition to putting programs into place to reduce waste, smart companies are identifying ways to repurpose waste into useful raw materials.

At a time when travel brands are finding each dollar harder to come by, cause marketing can be a cost-effective way for companies to differentiate themselves, writes Todd Wilson. "Taking the time and spending the effort to make cause marketing a cornerstone of your strategy is a good bet to drive your revenue during the holiday season and beyond," he writes.

Paris-based Kering, which owns luxury brands Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, among many others, is working on a 10-year sustainability plan that includes specific green standards for its supply chains. "When you are in the luxury sector, you have a responsibility because you set the trends," said Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering's chief sustainability officer.

GRI, the UN Global Compact and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have launched a new tool to help companies navigate and contribute to a new set of global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations last week. The SDG Compass is a guide that companies can use to align their strategies with the relevant SDGs, and measure and manage their impacts. It is supported by a live and constantly updated inventory of business indicators.

The New Climate Economy launched the Coalition for Urban Transitions, a global initiative to bolster the economic case for improvements in urban development. The Coalition will work with countries - including China and India - to ensure effective urban infrastructure investment is a central part of their growth strategies.

Now that the Paris Agreement on climate is becoming a tangible reality, companies need to address a key question: What does the agreement mean for me?

Since Google declared its 100 percent commitment to renewables back in 2012, it has signed contracts that will help add almost 2.6 gigawatts of wind- and solar-generated electricity to the grid by the time all the projects are completely. While each of those installations has its own timetable for completion, at least 900 megawatts of those projects should come online within the next four to six weeks alone, according to one of Google's energy strategy executives. Over the course of next year, all the clean power that Google is adding to the grid will offset what it's using in aggregate. And moving forward, Google wants to ensure that more of the electricity it actually uses can be traced to renewable generating sources.

According to a new Pure Strategies study, over $8 billion was earned in 2015 from the sustainability efforts of 153 survey respondents, signaling a new way of defining sources of business value. Taking inspiration from sustainability's positive performance, companies should position their programs to generate the greatest business benefits and to measure and celebrate the gains.

Global chocolate and cocoa supplier Barry Callebaut launched its new sustainability strategy "Forever Chocolate," which sets out four targets for the company to achieve by 2025. The targets include eradicating child labor from its supply chain, becoming carbon and forest positive, lifting more than 500,000 cocoa farmers out of poverty, and using 100% sustainable ingredients in all of its products.

Companies including SABMiller, Dow, Novozymes, and many others have begun to align their corporate responsibility targets with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since the United Nations (UN) launched them in September. Indeed, aligning corporate strategy with the SDGs demonstrates the relevancy of social and environmental efforts, and private sector contributions are essential if we hope to achieve the 17 ambitious targets by 2030.