2Sustain

Last week, the H.J. Heinz Company released it 2011 Corporate Social Responsibility Report and announced that the company is on track to achieve or surpass its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, solid landfill waste, energy consumption and water consumption by at least 20 percent each by Fiscal Year 2015.

Since the baseline year of 2005, Heinz has achieved the following cumulative reductions through Fiscal Year 2011, which ended on April 27:

• 45.6 percent global reduction in solid waste per 100 metric tons of production globally
• 21.8 percent global reduction in water consumption per metric ton of production globally
• 13.2 percent decrease in greenhouse gas emissions per metric ton of production globally
• 15.1 percent decrease in energy consumption per metric ton of production globally

The 2011 report, which adheres to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G3 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines, also includes these additional highlights from 2011: (more…)

PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division announced last week that its Casa Grande, Arizona, manufacturing facility has reached “near net zero.”

The company’s “near net zero” vision was to transform an existing facility so that it would be as far off the grid as possible, running primarily on renewable energy sources and recycled water, while producing nearly zero landfill waste.

In order to achieve this goal, Frito-Lay invested in and implemented a combination of technologies.

For instance, the Casa Grande facility now generates two-thirds of all energy used from renewable sources.  For example, five separate and distinct solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, installed throughout the property, produce nearly 10 million kilowatt-hours (KWHs) of electrical power. (Two solar fields of single axis tracking PV systems with more than 18,000 solar panels were installed on 36 acres of the facility’s agriculture property. The three additional PV fields include a dual axis tracking system, a single axis covered parking lot and 10 sterling engine dual axis tracking systems.)

In addition, the company is working toward: (more…)

Water is quickly becoming a significant business growth and development risk.

In fact, after polling 150 large corporations, CDP Water Disclosure found that nearly 40 percent of responding companies had already experienced disruptions in operations, increases in expenses and other detrimental impacts related to water. Of course, government entities are also increasingly concerned with water-related disruptions, and they’re seeking viable approaches for mitigating risks, as well.

Fortunately, a new group promises to offer the kind of information needed for public and private sector decision-making regarding water risks.

Launched just last week, the Aqueduct Alliance is a consortium of leading water experts from the private and public sectors, NGOs and academia. It was founded by the World Resources Institute (WRI), Goldman Sachs and General Electric, but already the alliance has added Bloomberg, The Dow Chemical Company, Talisman Energy, and United Technologies. The Coca-Cola Company is also engaged and will be providing an extensive global database of once proprietary water risk information to support Aqueduct’s work.

From the alliance’s website: (more…)

Earlier this summer, Greenpeace challenged major clothing brands, including Nike, Puma and Adidas, to eliminate the release of all hazardous chemicals across their supply chains.

I’m very pleased to report that within the past month or so, both Nike and Puma have announced significant commitments to “detox.”

Nike, the world’s largest sportswear brand, announced last week that it will eliminate the releases of all hazardous chemicals across its entire supply chain and the entire life-cycle of its products by 2020. In addition, the company has agreed to full transparency about the chemicals being released from its suppliers’ factories and to work toward the widespread elimination of hazardous chemicals from the clothing industry. Nike has said that it will publish its implementation plan within eight weeks. From the company’s press release:

NIKE, Inc. is committed to the goal of zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020.

To make this a reality, NIKE, Inc. will continue phasing out hazardous chemicals in our supply chain and we will accelerate the phase out of the highest priority hazardous chemicals. NIKE, Inc. will continue to work with brands, material suppliers, the broader chemical industry, NGOs and other stakeholders to achieve this goal. We will drive towards innovative solutions for transparency in chemical management disclosure.

We recognize the path to reaching this goal must be through innovation, the application of green chemistry, and broad industry and regulatory collaboration and engagement. NIKE, Inc.’s commitment and investment towards this goal and the dedication to system change is unwavering.

We will work tirelessly to affect system change across the industry towards this goal. This commitment includes sustained investment in moving industry, government, science and technology to deliver on systemic change.

We commit to continue to share what we learn, our approaches and tools and work with others8 in finding new solutions and removing existing barriers, and to report progress towards comprehensive chemicals management.

Puma had already made a similar commitment: (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…)