Archive for the ‘Energy Use’ Category

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Waste Footprint and Sustainable Suppliers

Thursday, September 15th, 2011

It is important to have conversations with your suppliers in order to learn about their sustainability efforts, as well as to find information on how their products align with your company’s sustainability priorities. There are several sustainability issues relevant to products in any industry. One of those is waste footprint.

A waste footprint is the amount of waste produced by sourcing ingredients and materials, manufacturing and processing, and transportation.1 A supplier can reduce the amount of waste it produces, and it can also take steps to reduce the amount of waste produced by the consumer.

First, suppliers can reduce the amount of packaging they use, which cuts down the amount of waste disposed by consumers. Suppliers can also design packaging to lower the chance that foods goes bad.1 There are a variety of ways for companies to address their waste footprint. The important thing is to ask questions and find out what your suppliers are doing.

1http://www.greenbiz.com/news/2010/06/09/sainsburys-tests-new-technology-trim-food-waste

Posted in Energy Use, Life Cycle Analysis, Sustainability, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Sustainable Packaging Takes a Front Seat

Friday, July 15th, 2011

A new global survey from DuPont of more than 500 packaging professionals shows that the need to package food, consumer and industrial products in a more sustainable and affordable way dominates the worldwide packaging industry.1

The results indicate that finding sustainable, cost-effective solutions to reduce packaging’s environmental footprint is the most important goal across the globe, especially in the food and beverage industries.1 There is not a one-size-fits-all strategy that works for every company. However, DuPont’s survey shows that there are multiple approaches companies can take to find sustainable solutions.

Of all survey respondents, 65 percent said their sustainable packaging efforts were focused on design for recyclability or use of recycled content; 57 percent are focused on weight reduction; 41 percent are focused on renewable or bio-based materials; and 25 percent are focused on compostable materials.1

As you can see, there are many pathways available to improve packaging sustainability. Choosing the right one for your company requires collaboration across your value chain. What approach does your company take to sustainable packaging?

1http://www.packagingdigest.com/article/518152-Survey_Global_packaging_community_stays_focused_on_green_.php

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Taking a Resource-Focused Approach to the Supply Chain

Friday, July 8th, 2011

Ask some business leaders why their companies are pursuing sustainability and you might get the same answers over and over. “It’s good for the environment. It’s good for our corporate image. It’s the responsible thing to do.” These are important reasons, but are they the best reasons?

According to Deloitte Consulting, true sustainability leaders recognize the business value sustainability can create and they know how to capture it. Instead of pursuing sustainability simply because they are supposed to, sustainability leaders take a resource-focused approach to sustainability and the supply chain.1

By creating a resource-efficient supply chain, companies can significantly reduce costs by decreasing their use of energy, materials or water. To be most effective, however, sustainability needs to be an integral part of your company’s end-to-end operations.1 This means going beyond internal commitments and making sustainability a part of every step of your business.

If your company is just going through the motions of sustainability, you are missing out on potential cost-savings and not delivering full value to your shareholders. You are also missing an opportunity to strengthen your company’s overall brand image.

How can your company start investing in a resource-efficient supply chain?

1http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Insights/Browse-by-Content-Type/deloitte-debates/fa4e135d9aadf210VgnVCM1000001a56f00aRCRD.htm?id=us_email_debates_051211

Posted in Climate Change, Energy Use, Life Cycle Analysis, Sustainability | No Comments »

What Is a Sustainability Scorecard?

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

Proctor & Gamble recently upgraded its Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard for 2011, meant to track and encourage improvement of key environmental measures in its supply chain.1 This is the second year the company has used the scorecard, the first year was more focused on assessing if P&G would be able to get clear data to measure future improvements and jump-start innovation in the area of sustainability.2

The Scorecard has three main goals: enhancing supply chain collaboration, improving key environmental indications and encouraging the sharing of ideas and capabilities to deliver more sustainable products and services to consumers.2

While the main function of the scorecard is to provide a snapshot across P&G’s supply chain, it also helps encourage suppliers to share innovative ideas to improve the sustainability performance of the business as a whole.2 This can help the company identify opportunities to improve sustainability and the overall bottom line. P&G serves as a great example of making sustainability part of an organization’s culture. Does your company have a sustainability scorecard? If not, how do you keep track of sustainability performance across your supply chain?

1 http://www.pgsupplier.com

2http://www.sustainablelifemedia.com/content/story/brands/pg_shares_and_upgrades_sustainability_supplier_scorecard

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Posted in Energy Use, Greenhouse Gasses, Life Cycle Analysis, Sustainability, Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Three Food Rights Everyone Should Have

Wednesday, April 27th, 2011

A recent white paper called Making Safe, Affordable and Abundant Food a Global Reality, authored by Jeff Simmons, President of Elanco, an animal health and protein production company, discusses the global food crisis and tackles a common myth: that people don’t want safe, modern and efficient technology used in food production. According to research compiled for the paper, 95 percent of people are either neutral or fully supportive of using new technology to produce their food. By using safe, proven, efficient technologies, we can ensure what the author calls “The Three Rights:”

1.    Food—a basic human right

2.    Choice—a consumer right

3.    Sustainability—environmentally right

The first one is a no-brainer, food is essential to survival. However, a large majority of the world’s population is underfed. Food producers must be able to choose from a variety of safe and proven methods for growing food at maximum efficiency.1 What other ways do you think we can keep food accessible for a growing population?

Stay tuned for our next blog post, when we will discuss the rights of consumer choice and sustainability.

1 http://208.86.102.31/webcontent/Three_Rights_White_Paper_March_2011.pdf

Posted in Biotech, Climate Change, Energy Use, Health, Sustainability | No Comments »

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