2Sustain

The global packaging industry continues to view sustainability as a top priority.

Among 500 packaging professionals surveyed by DuPont earlier this spring, more than 40 percent consider sustainability the toughest challenge they face.  One-third (33 percent) of those in the poll named cost as a major factor.

DuPont also found that survey participants who are working on sustainable packaging reported a wide range of different strategies. For example: (more…)

Kraft Foods is expanding its sustainability goals.

The new goals build upon previous commitments to energy, carbon dioxide, water, waste and packaging reductions and then go a step further to add measurement of transportation and agricultural commodities.

Here’s what Kraft Foods is planning to accomplish by the end of 2015:

• Increase sustainable sourcing(2) of agricultural commodities by 25 percent
• Reduce energy use in manufacturing plants by 15 percent
• Reduce energy-related CO2 emissions in manufacturing plants by 15 percent
• Reduce water consumption in manufacturing plants by 15 percent
• Reduce waste at manufacturing plants by 15 percent
• Eliminate 50,000 metric tons (100 million lbs.)of packaging material
• Reduce 80 million km (50 million miles) from transportation network
• Sustainably source 100 percent of the coffee for the company’s European coffee brands

(These new goals now include Cadbury and LU businesses acquired since 2007.)

It’s worth noting that Kraft Foods has already made some significant reductions. From 2005 through 2010, the company has reduced: (more…)

Last month, Mattel, Inc. announced that it has made considerable progress in several areas of its global sustainability program.

The strategy –called “Design It, Make It, Live It”–focuses on helping the company minimize its footprint throughout the value chain and across the organization and emphasizes the importance of personal commitment in business as well as everyday practices and processes. Here’s how Mattel explains the three different stages:

• First, the company “designs it” with the end in mind, exploring opportunities for sustainability in the design of products and packaging.

• Then, Mattel “makes it” with eco-efficiencies that allows the company to identify opportunities to gain efficiencies and reduce environmental impacts through the manufacturing and distribution of its products.

• Lastly, the company “lives it” with the personal commitment that fosters a culture of sustainability, which in turn, inspires employee-led grassroots initiatives.

With regard to environmental initiatives, Mattel reported that it has made progress with: (more…)

Earlier this month, Tim Hortons, Inc. released its first 2010 Sustainability and Responsibility Report, which includes information about the Company’s 2010 performance, compared to the commitments and goals outlined in the company’s 2009 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Tim Hortons is the fourth largest publicly-traded restaurant chain in North America based on market capitalization, and the largest in Canada, and the company has outlined several specific goals for the coming years. For instance, Tim Hortons is committed to: (more…)

McDonald’s Corporation is stepping up its commitment to a sustainable supply chain.

Last week, the company announced a new Sustainable Land Management Commitment (SLMC), which McDonald’s says will ensure the food served in its restaurants around the world is sourced from certified sustainable sources.

The SLMC requires that, over time, McDonald’s suppliers source agricultural raw materials for the company’s food and packaging only from sustainably-managed land.

Initially, McDonald’s will focus on the five raw materials that have the most potential sustainability impacts: beef, poultry, coffee, palm oil and packaging. As part of this commitment, McDonald’s is: (more…)