Conducting due diligence on the environmental and social practices of small and growing agricultural businesses yields financial benefits to lenders that partially or fully offset the costs involved, according to nonprofit agriculture lender Root Capital.
Some 40 industry groups, led by the National Association of Manufacturers and the US Chamber of Commerce have partnered to oppose the EPA's carbon emissions rules for power plants and other "poorly crafted GHG regulations."
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.
Ben & Jerry's, Stonyfield Farm, and over 200 other companies and organizations signed a letter urging President Obama to institute a national labeling system for genetically engineered foods.
Threatened with expulsion from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, Indonesian pulp and paper company Asia Pacific Resources International re-committed to an earlier pledge to stop clearing forests for new plantations by the end of 2014. The company also pledged to double its forest restoration program to 40,000 hectares and use 100% plantation fiber by the end of 2019.
On Wednesday, The North Face announced the completion of its Responsible Down Standard, a tool that will provide a global standard through which the outdoor-gear retailer says any organization can evaluate and certify its full down supply chain.
Organic dairy producer Stonyfield Farm, Inc. announced this week that it will utilize a new tool to manage its supply chain: SupplyShift™ - a new, cloud-based, supply chain management platform focused on sustainability, but flexible enough to assess any procurement need or supply chain risks.
What do tech giants Apple, Google, Intel and Microsoft, retailers Kohl's, Whole Foods and Wal-Mart, the U.S. Energy and Veteran Affairs Departments, and the cities of Houston and Washington, D.C. have in common? According to recently updated data in the Environmental Protection Agency's Green Power Partnership, they are the most prolific users of renewable energy in the United States.
Global waterways, especially in developing countries, are set to benefit as the Tide manufacturer aims to cut phosphates from all its laundry soaps within two years.
The Coca-Cola Bottling Company in Needham Heights, Mass., has removed about 98 percent of influent biological oxygen demand (BOD) after installing a BioprocessH2O membrane biological reactor (MBR) system, according to a Bioprocess H2O case study.
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI), whose members include Dow Chemical, Procter & Gamble, SC Johnson and Seventh Generation among other major brands, has launched a voluntary initiative to improve the sustainability of cleaning products.
Canada's two largest west coast ports are offering financial incentives to the most efficient vessels that enter the ports.
Port Metro Vancouver's Eco-Action program and Prince Rupert Port Authority's (PRPA's) Green Wave program will reward ship owners based on the Carbon War Room's A to G Greenhouse Gas Emissions rating, which benchmarks the energy efficiency of shipping fleets.
Members of UK retail industry body the British Retail Consortium including McDonald's, Asda and Sainsbury's have pledged to reduce their absolute carbon emissions from retail operations 25 percent by 2020 based on 2005 levels as part of a raft of environmental targets covering waste, transport, resource efficiency in buildings, water and refrigeration.
Recycling of plastics - one of the best ways to reduce carbon footprint - offers two major benefits: recycling reduces the amount of oil required to produce more plastic, and also takes material out of landfills.
Burberry has committed to eliminating hazardous chemicals from its supply chain by Jan. 1, 2020, following weeks of Greenpeace-led protests at its stores and consumer pressure on its social media channels.
Pulp Green Tech (PGT), which owns Thai Gorilla Pulp in Thailand, says it has made high-grade quality paper pulp from 100 percent palm oil waste material, called empty fruit bunches or EFBs (pictured).
Pet care products company Hartz Mountain has redesigned its pet shampoo bottles to save 220,000 pounds of polymer across 10 million bottles, the company's director of packaging engineering tells Packaging Digest.