India’s growth in next 25 years will be clean, green, sustainable and reliable: Modi

India’s growth in next 25 years will be clean, green, sustainable and reliable: Modi

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Citing India’s commitment to deep economic reforms and ease of doing business, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asserted that this is the best time to invest in the country as policy-making is focussed on the needs for the next 25 years for a ‘clean and green’ as well as ‘sustainable and reliable’ growth period.  In his special address to the World Economic Forum’s online Davos Agenda 2022 summit, Modi underlined a host of reform measures undertaken by his government to stress that it has worked to reduce the administration’s interference in business by deregulating many sectors and to clear the way for free trade agreements with different countries.

Food Sovereignty, Climate Action and Local Resilience

Food Sovereignty, Climate Action and Local Resilience

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Climate action is vital. And yet there is a risk that, taken alone, climate action could mean those with economic power keep it, all the while avoiding the bigger, systemic changes required to face our social and environmental challenges. We argue here for climate action that works within a local resilience and food sovereignty framework so that it is grounded in a societal transformation rather than solely an economic reorientation of direction.  We are currently faced with huge, complex conundrums which our existing social and political structures are struggling to resolve. Climate change is among the environmental crises which offers us the opportunity to shift from an extractive economy based on debt and endless growth to a circular one based on wellbeing, co-operation and regeneration of our natural world.

Air pollution makes it harder for pollinators to find plants

Air pollution makes it harder for pollinators to find plants

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Exposing bees, butterflies and other pollinators to air pollution severely impairs their ability to sniff out the plants they feed on. That could be bad news for both insect populations and the crops that rely on them for pollination.  Pesticides and land use changes are two of the biggest drivers of plummeting insect numbers, but a new field trial suggests that polluted air caused by diesel cars may be a major cause too.  Previous evidence from lab studies has shown how air pollutants degrade the floral odour particles released by plants, making it harder for insects to locate them.

Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa: The New Circular Economy of Food

Insect and Hydroponic Farming in Africa: The New Circular Economy of Food

ByThe Circular Economy Team

People have eaten insects and hydroponic crops for hundreds of years. But farming them is new, with huge potential for human food and animal feed all year round with very little resources. Farmed insects can be fed organic waste, then quickly become protein-rich foods for humans and animals. Waste from insects can then return to the soil as biofertilizer, creating a circular economy.
Africa already has hydroponic farms and more than 850 insect farms that produce food and feed. But the sector is still in its infancy, with the potential to create millions of jobs, including for women and youth, if it is scaled up in Africa and beyond. Join our event to learn from insect farmers, development experts and World Bank staff who are pushing the frontier of agriculture to create jobs, improve food security and save the planet.

Corporate Sustainability: Making Sustainability Profitable and Profitability Sustainable

Corporate Sustainability: Making Sustainability Profitable and Profitability Sustainable

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Successive lockdowns and the slowdown of the world economy over the last 18 months put a sharp focus on global and corporate sustainability. We marveled as skies cleared, commuter traffic waned, and wildlife thrived in previously out-of-bounds urban areas. We worried about the environmental impact of masks littering our streets and the return to disposable coffee cups. And, prompted by the shutdown of many of our favorite stores, we reconsidered our appetite for fast fashion and the next retail hit.

Lenovo technology predictions for 2022: hybrid, sustainable, personal | Michael Ngan, Lenovo Philippines President and General Manager

Lenovo technology predictions for 2022: hybrid, sustainable, personal | Michael Ngan, Lenovo Philippines President and General Manager

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The past year was a time of transition – but which of the new approaches will take hold in Asia Pacific markets? For 2022 and beyond, Lenovo is offering a range of predications that incorporate what has been learned in the past year, to improve future products and services.  Intensely hybrid working models, a focus on carbon neutrality and the environment, and a need for more comfortable, intuitive ways to operate our technology all set the tone for the following emerging trends.

UM Today | Office of Sustainability | UM committee tackling responsible investment opportunities

UM Today | Office of Sustainability | UM committee tackling responsible investment opportunities

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Did you know the University of Manitoba is a signatory of the Investing to Address Climate Change: A Charter for Canadian Universities? The charter is a coalition of Canadian universities that have agreed to adopt a set of guiding principles that will govern the investment policies of university assets as they relate to climate change.  In fall 2020, UM established the Responsible Investment Committee to provide advice and make policy recommendations on matters related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues; socially responsible investing; climate change; divestment; impact investing; and shareholder engagement.

NWRA Celebrates 60 Years of Advocating for the Waste and Recycling Industry in 2022

NWRA Celebrates 60 Years of Advocating for the Waste and Recycling Industry in 2022

ByThe Circular Economy Team

This year marks 60 years since the National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) was founded to advocate for the waste and recycling industry. NWRA, originally named the National Council of Refuse Disposal Trade Associations, has celebrated many accomplishments over the years and is excited to celebrate its 60th anniversary with its members, partners and the industry as a whole in 2022.  This year, the Association will launch various anniversary projects, including a video project and digital timeline produced by the NWRA Women’s Council; a social media campaign featuring NWRA’s members; and a specially designed, 60th anniversary-themed booth at WasteExpo. Additionally, NWRA will launch an official Association publication, with the first issue focused on NWRA’s 60th anniversary.

China launches campaign to plug greenhouse gas monitoring gap | Headlines

China launches campaign to plug greenhouse gas monitoring gap | Headlines

ByThe Circular Economy Team

China will force key industrial sectors and regions to take action to measure greenhouse gas emissions as part of a new initiative to improve data quality and oversight, according to an environment ministry document reviewed by Reuters. Under the pilot programme, some of China’s biggest coal-fired power providers, steel mills and oil and gas producers must draw up comprehensive new greenhouse gas monitoring plans by the end of this year.

New climate change rules to outlaw any new-build conservatories that create ‘unwanted solar gain’  | Daily

New climate change rules to outlaw any new-build conservatories that create ‘unwanted solar gain’  | Daily

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Climate change looks set to claim an unexpected new victim – Britain’s conservatories.  They may be a sought-after addition to many middle-class homes but the sun traps can overheat in our increasingly warm summers.  As a result, regulations are being brought in that could make conservatories far rarer in new-build houses.  From June, any conservatory intended as part of a new development will need to show it will not create ‘unwanted solar gain’.  The change is part of a raft of measures aimed at future-proofing homes against summers where temperatures are predicted to reach 40C (104F).  Though well above what is currently experienced in Britain, such highs would cause conservatories to become unbearably hot, often increasing the temperature uncomfortably indoors too.

Five Actions for Sustainable Business | Guide for Sustainable Enterprises | Purpose and Sustainability

Five Actions for Sustainable Business | Guide for Sustainable Enterprises | Purpose and Sustainability

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Customers, employees, and investors are rejecting companies that don’t act to implement sustainable business practices. Accelerated business action for sustainability will certainly have dramatic positive impacts on people and planet, but it’s also the greatest economic opportunity of our time. We must reinvent business to be both profitable and sustainable. To do this we must put people and planet and profits on equal footing. Being a sustainable business is as much about the vitality of your workforce and local communities as it is about health of the environment. As the building blocks of the global economy, businesses need to transform their strategies, operations, and networks to achieve our shared global goals of a cleaner planet and more inclusive, equal societies.

UnionBank at 40: Future Forward, a leap to enduring greatness through sustainability

UnionBank at 40: Future Forward, a leap to enduring greatness through sustainability

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Aboitiz-led Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank) is widely-known to have been trailblazing many firsts in the country since it began operations forty years ago. UnionBank has always been among the first to embrace technological innovations to empower its customers into the future of banking. The Bank’s 40-year journey began with a simple vision: to become one of the top three universal banks in the country with respect to market capitalization, profits, and customer coverage.

From ignored to j’adored | Deloitte Global

From ignored to j’adored | Deloitte Global

ByThe Circular Economy Team

The public believed that fast food was simply not compatible with France’s food culture. The brand faced negative perceptions regarding treatment of its workforce, overall environmental impact, and most damaging of all, the promotion of junk food. With public dissatisfaction at an all-time high, something had to change.  A team of consultants from Deloitte France had a radical plan. To change the image, you’d have to start by changing the product. Listen to what the people want and then give it to them.  We developed a 10-year progress plan to take the client from corporate interloper to a family-friendly sit-down restaurant.

SMS group GmbH: Primobius partners with Stelco in recycling of electric vehicle batteries | Press Detail

SMS group GmbH: Primobius partners with Stelco in recycling of electric vehicle batteries | Press Detail

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Primobius GmbH has executed binding option and licensing agreements with the North American steelmaking company Stelco Holdings Inc. headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario. Both parties have agreed on formal arrangements to commercialize Primobius’ proprietary advanced electric vehicle battery recycling and processing technologies in North America.  Primobius is an incorporated joint venture between Australian Stock Exchange listed company Neometals Ltd. and private German engineering and technology company SMS group, to commercialize an environmentally friendly recycling solution for lithium-ion-batteries (LIB). Primobius has developed a CO2-reduced, two-step system combining mechanical and hydrometallurgical processes to bring high-purity chemicals back into the battery supply chain.

Cheers to sustainable Champagne | Euronews

Cheers to sustainable Champagne | Euronews

ByThe Circular Economy Team

If I say the word Champagne to you, what images are conjured? An A-list soirée on a yacht in Nice? A New Year’s party of Gatsby proportions? It’s the drink of the Jazz Age, a symbol of conspicuous consumption, where how much you consume is as important as what it is you’re consuming.  Except, it’s not quite that. Not anymore, anyway. Take a walk around any of Champagne’s vineyards and you’ll find something very different. Yes, when a bottle leaves the region, chances are that it’s off somewhere to be enjoyed without much thought to the environmental consequences – that’s kind of how it should be. However, while the grapes are growing, and your favourite bubbly is maturing, the growers of Champagne have sustainability and the environment at the forefront of their minds – it’s the reason for their livelihood, after all.

2022 Energy Predictions: Coal Decline Accelerates, Federal Funds Spur Clean Energy, Millions Of New Electric Vehicles And Chargers

2022 Energy Predictions: Coal Decline Accelerates, Federal Funds Spur Clean Energy, Millions Of New Electric Vehicles And Chargers

ByThe Circular Economy Team

2021 was a landmark year for clean energy and climate policy, from dozens of nations pledging to phase out coal, to the most ambitious federal climate proposals in United States history, to automakers going all in on electrified transportation.
Many of these developments were forecast by policy experts who thought Democratic control of the White House and Congress, fast-falling clean energy and electrified technology prices, and the undeniable need to confront climate change by cutting emissions portended a groundswell of action.

Wellness, Nostalgia, Innovation and New Views of Sustainability Are Among the Food Trends for 2022

Wellness, Nostalgia, Innovation and New Views of Sustainability Are Among the Food Trends for 2022

ByThe Circular Economy Team

As we enter the new year and the world begins year three of the COVID-19 pandemic, we find ourselves in a decade that proves the adage, “The only constant is change.” The food system is hardly immune to turmoil. The causes and consequences include persistent disruptions in global supply chains, new perspectives on worker welfare and safety, and a renewed focus on food insecurity. In addition, climate change continues to be a major concern. Despite these challenges, innovative approaches that harness the power of science and technology continue to emerge. To help make sense of it all, the International Food Information Council (IFIC) — drawing on its credentialed experts and wealth of consumer survey data — once again offers a forecast of food trends for the upcoming year. 

2 sugarcane crushing units to be set up in Latur district

2 sugarcane crushing units to be set up in Latur district

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Maharashtra legislator and Latur district BJP president Ramesh Karad on Monday said two sugarcane crushing units with a combined capacity of 2,000 tonnes per day will be set up in this district in the state’s Marathwada region.
These units will come up in Latur and Renapur tehsils, he said, while speaking at a meeting of sugarcane cultivators and BJP workers here.
”Instead of farmers and members of sugar co-operatives, politicians have become owners of sugar factories. Therefore, to give justice to sugarcane cultivators and stop their exploitation, we have decided to set up two sugarcane crushing units (in Latur district),” said Karad, who is also an MLC.

Indian states clamour for Tesla plant after Musk tweet

Indian states clamour for Tesla plant after Musk tweet

ByThe Circular Economy Team

Indian politicians are clamouring for Elon Musk’s attention on Twitter, chasing the coveted right to host a Tesla factory, after the billionaire said government “challenges” were delaying his electric car company’s local launch.  Tesla’s hopes to sell its vehicles in one of the world’s biggest markets have been stalled by efforts to negotiate lower import duties, which can be as high as 100 percent.

The power of reusable packaging – Modern Materials Handling

The power of reusable packaging – Modern Materials Handling

ByThe Circular Economy Team

It all started with the first Earth Day. At least that’s where I personally think the environmental movement really made its first, very public mark.  Maybe you remember that day in 1970, maybe not. I was a high school junior back then, and I remember the emphasis on planting more trees and recycling cans and bottles. The spirit of Earth Day has grown enormously and morphed quite considerably.  Now we tend to talk about climate change and sustainability. And while most of us have some knowledge in this area, we can be bit shallow on the subject. Yes, I’ll raise my hand first. I get it, but don’t press me for too many details.