Responsible Production & the Circular Economy

The Barilla Group has released its 2017 Sustainability Report.

Highlights include Barilla actions to contribute to people’s and communities’ wellbeing and adapt to climate changes and planetary boundaries through collaborative efforts with many stakeholders. It’s a concrete report about Barilla purpose “Good for You, Good for the Planet”.

MPR News chief meteorologist Paul Huttner spoke to General Mills vice president Jerry Lynch about how climate change is viewed through the eyes of a major food supplier.

Here’s the plan. The next seven blog posts will be a guided tour up the Seven Fronts of Mount Sustainability, Ray Anderson’s famous zero-footprint metaphor.

It’s no secret that Earth’s natural resources are diminishing at an increasing rate. According to the Global Footprint Network’s estimate, human demand on our planet’s ecosystems is projected to exceed what nature can regenerate by about 75 percent in the next three years. Considering we only have one Earth, we need to reinvent how we use its resources before it’s too late.

Through an automotive industry-first commitment to sourcing sustainable natural rubber in its tires, General Motors is helping drive the industry toward net-zero deforestation and uphold human and labor rights. The company will develop a set of purchasing requirements, with the intent that the entire automotive industry will join in the movement and together help transform the rubber supply chain.

In today’s age of CSR culpability, businesses are increasingly looking towards the circular economy as a societal as well as business step away from what the Ellen MacArthur Foundation call the ‘take, make and dispose’ extractive model of business.

As the EU seeks to become the most climate friendly region in the world, it is continuously introducing new regulations that place ever-stricter demands on CO2 emissions and the environmental design of energy-using products. As a leading supplier of pumps for the construction sector, Xylem has created a new white paper to help customers understand the complex regulatory landscape.

Infrastructure Week allows us to reflect on the modernization needed to drive the new digital grid. A comprehensive view of the infrastructure elements needed to create a more efficient and sustainable energy landscape should include communications networks and embedded computing. Utilities, technology vendors and community leaders will need to work in collaboration to ensure all elements are considered for the digital grid to thrive.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) define a world that promises a flourishing future for human civilization on spaceship Earth. Some companies already embrace the SDGs as their aspirational environmental and social goals. Other companies hesitate, in case attaining some or all the goals’ 169 associated targets by 2030 would be at the expense of company success. There are 12 trillion reasons why their hesitation is unjustified.

Global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland recently joined organic fiber brands MetaWear and Synergy, along with 21 other companies to sponsor the Organic Trade Association’s two day “Live Organic from Farm to Home” pop-up event in Manhattan. The event was designed to educate consumers on the importance of organic materials, while showcasing the latest in organic products for the closet and home, from organic cotton t-shirts and wool sweaters to organic mattresses.