This month’s highlights include our new report with public sector caterers, which shows a shift to climate and nature friendly menus, with 80% committed to reducing meat. Our Executive Director, Simon Billing, was interviewed on Times Radio to discuss why public sector catering must take the lead on eating better.
We may have finally reached a tipping point when it comes to action on climate change. 1 Energy companies, manufacturing companies, and governments around the world are setting realistic goals and, more importantly, taking real action. Today’s blog is about how climate action relates to supply chain management. Almost every company these days has a sustainability page on their website. Some use the term circularity. You can think of circularity as a subset of sustainability.
January 2020 marked the dawn of a new decade, but little did we realise what the coming years would bring. The clock is ticking on climate change, but the unexpected impact of COVID-19 suddenly brought all of our priorities into stark relief. With the world on pause, the opportunity to press the re-set button has led to a rapid realignment of our goals and ambitions. From how we operate and do business, to how we implement new low-carbon technologies and moderate our own behaviour, the changes we make over the coming decade will be decisive in more ways than one.
In our fifth edition, we are looking for startups in four emerging challenge sectors to showcase your game-changing solutions and products. Make the pitch of a lifetime to a global audience of major investors, industry leaders, and thought leaders! Shortlisted startups will be given the opportunity to develop corporate partnerships and join us at Singapore Week of Innovation and TeCHnology 2021 (SWITCH 2021). Even as Southeast Asia recovers from recent economic challenges, it continues to bear the brunt of global climate change and its myriad effects. Regional government and industry leaders have made sustainable practices and green solutions a key priority, generating US$1 trillion economic opportunities annually in the Southeast Asian region by 2030.
Taking vegan luxury handbags to new heights, this innovative handbag brand launched in Paris’ 16th arrondissement during the first COVID-19 lockdown in March 2020. The names of the three “sister” bags of the collection – Florine, Faustine and Flore – refer to the “Three Graces” of Greek mythology: they embody charm, beauty and human creativity.
The name Thalie perfectly reflects the brand’s commitment to sustainability and design: in ancient Greek, “Thaleia” means “the flourishing”, standing for the blossoming revival of nature.
The Cornell Hotel Sustainability Benchmarking (CHSB) Index allows a hotel to benchmark its carbon, energy and water performance against peers in the same city, climate zone or asset class. Data from CHSB feeds the Hotel Footprinting Tool, which allows you to estimate the carbon footprint of a hotel stay or meeting anywhere in the world. As the hospitality industry starts to regain momentum after the devastating impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, it cannot ignore the potential for climate change, arguably an even more pressing risk, to further disrupt its viability in the future.
The circular economy’s June jamboree in Finland, attended by around 1,500 experts and policymakers, showed just how much momentum the concept has gained in recent years. Little wonder. The circular economy model – which aims to use closed-loop production to keep resources in play for as long as possible – is presented as a pragmatic, win-win solution; an almost magical fix for our environmental woes.
Corporate Knights just announced their list of the World’s Most Sustainable Corporations and we are proud to share that Dassault Systèmes ranks at the top of their list. Calling us “a major force in sustainable innovation” the report cited the impact that our digital technologies have had in helping companies and governments adopt renewables, experiment with various forms of sustainable mobility and create smarter cities.
On 18 October, 13 partners from 6 EU Member States conducted the kick-off meeting of the European Project ‘LOOP-Ports – Circular Economy Network of Ports’ in Valencia. The main goal of the LOOP-Ports project is to facilitate the transition to a more circular economy in the port sector, where products, materials and resources are maintained in the economy for as long as possible, and the waste generation minimized.
This project, coordinated by the Port of Valencia and funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) through the EIT Climate-KIC initiative, will run for 26 months, ending in November 2020.
As more companies commit to innovative circular economy and sustainability strategies and investments, there is an increased need to learn the best practices for successfully communicating these decisions externally. This publication, Messaging the Circular Economy, showcases (1) tactics companies are taking to educate customers on their circular products, ambitions, or service offerings, and the opportunity the circular economy represents in the United States; (2) perspective pieces from nonprofit organizations, communications and advisory firms, academia, and trade associations on how to communicate to external stakeholders about circularity; and (3) research on what messages resonate with which audiences.
In July 2017, Paris rolled out its “Circular Economy Plan”: a concrete 15 point roadmap to 2020. In 2050, cities will be home to 65% of the world’s population – bringing with them the major economic and ecological challenges of our time. They need to take up the challenge of sustainability now – the circular economy offers a concrete solution. It is based on using resources in a loop to give waste a second life. Among the cities already committed to the circular economy Paris is a pioneer. In recent years, the French capital has encouraged businesses, shops and citizens to adopt more circular practices.
La Boquería, one of Barcelona’s most famous open air markets, screams Spain, or at least Southern Europe (Catalans these days are having a hard time calling themselves Spanish). It’s noisy and a bit chaotic, but teeming with positive energy. Tourists and locals mill about while vendors shout the offers of the day from all corners of the building. Fruits and vegetables are sold alongside fresh seafood, and of course, there’s a bar inside where you can enjoy a cold cerveza or an early afternoon tapa. Most of us in Europe and the United States don’t live in a place where a market like this could exist.
Tearfund have been leading the way in applying circular economy thinking to low income countries, and drawing out lessons for development. Their latest research paper is called Bending the Curve, and they have scoured the literature on the circular economy to identify proven interventions that are demonstrably pro-poor. The paper outlines five proven ideas, and a series of evolving and then speculative ideas too. At their best, these kinds of circular economy interventions can create jobs, deal with waste, and improve nutrition and health at the same time.
Seven United Nations (UN) entities have come together, supported by the World Economic Forum (WEF), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), to call for an overhaul of the current electronics system, with the aim of supporting international efforts to address e-waste challenges. The entities called for a systematic collaboration with major brands, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), the academia, trade unions, civil society and associations in a deliberative process to reorient the system, and reduce yearly waste of resources with a value greater than the gross domestic product (GDP) of most countries.
Recycling Technologies, on behalf of the project’s partners, today announces the publication of the results of Project Lodestar. This case study shows the potential for waste site operators to recycle ‘all plastics’ by combining state-of-the-art mechanical and feedstock recycling in an advanced Plastics Reprocessing Facility. Project Lodestar was led by Recycling Technologies, joining forces with leading global stakeholders, including petrochemical companies and consumer brand companies.
Recycling Technologies, a business specialising in the chemical recycling of mixed plastic waste, has announced a major strategic business alliance with InterChem, a global commodities trader, worth more £50m.
Read more about Zero-waste mobile phones come closer to reality on Business Standard.Researchers have hit a milestone in a quest to safeguard the environment and reduce the e-waste as much as possible.The scientists at the University of British Columbia perfected a process to efficiently separate…
Mondi’s BarrierPack Recyclable laminate earned a 2018 Plastics Recycling Europe Award for Best Technology Innovation in Plastics Recycling. The sustainable innovation has performance properties equivalent to conventional materials, yet is fully compatible with existing industrial recycling streams.
“Our goal is to reduce carbon and to do this we must adopt new approaches by using alternative feedstocks, including existing wastes and residues instead of fossil. Today we have an abundance of carbon in all the wrong places. We can turn it from a liability to an opportunity by using it again and again”. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech, on of the most dynamic and growing bioeconomy companies at world level
The UK currently exports two thirds of plastic collected for recycling and only recycles 9% of all plastics domestically.But new analysis shows the government could be developing secondary material markets that encourage an additional 2m tonnes of plastic to … Continue reading →…