Responsible Production & the Circular Economy

Though the global movement to end modern day slavery in supply chains has had increased media attention and has been joined by numerous channels, modern day slavery is still an issue in supply chains of the world's largest companies.

Bangladesh-based Direct Fresh Ltd. has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a pledge to integrate 2,000 small-scale vegetable farmers into its vegetable supply chain by 2018. The company’s inclusive business model involves training farmers in sustainable agricultural practices and sourcing fresh produce from them for direct sale.

GM’s Cruise Automation team is now testing the Chevrolet Bolt EV autonomous vehicle on roads in Scottsdale, Arizona. The state of Arizona supports such research and development, and provides a fitting environment to test in high temperature and desert conditions. Testing is also underway in San Francisco.

Norfolk Southern considers it a corporate responsibility to mitigate the environmental impacts of rail operations. Because the consumption of locomotive diesel fuel makes up about 90 percent of the company’s carbon emissions, NS has adopted strategic initiatives to reduce fuel use, which lower business costs and environmental impacts.

Water and wastewater utilities in the U.S. have high aspirations for energy reduction goals, or even moving toward energy neutral operations, but barriers are plentiful. Fortunately, approaches are being developed that can help system operators make significant progress in overcoming these obstacles.

Fargreen, a social enterprise dedicated to building sustainable farming communities in Vietnam, has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a pledge to provide 1,000 smallholder rice farmers with environmentally sustainable livelihood opportunities and training – helping them to increase their annual incomes by 50 percent.

At Sodexo, we have been recognized and awarded for our efforts to end childhood hunger through the Stop Hunger Foundation. It is customary to see decorated cardboard boxes around the office collecting donations or volunteer teams organizing food drives. Three years ago, my team and I embarked on a drive of our own—working with our culinary group in building a highly integrated technology platform for our foodservice operations that truly transforms the way we go to market and execute activities at our food operations – both from a business process and technology perspective. These changes demonstrate Sodexo’s commitment to Quality of Life values both for our unit staff and for our consumers.

The European Commission is currently implementing a fitness check as part of its broader goal for better regulation – “designing policies and laws so that they achieve their objectives in the most efficient and effective way possible.” Better regulation ensures that EU policies are relevant, policy-making is informed by evidence, and that stakeholders are a part of the process.

Diageo, a global leader in beverage alcohol, this week reported strong progress against its 2020 sustainability and responsibility targets with the publication of the company's 2016 Annual Report. Diageo made notable gains in its improvement in water efficiency, reduction of carbon emissions and waste materials as well as taking new steps to promote responsible drinking and agreed strategic partnerships with development organisations.