archive2023

Metal packaging should take precedence over plastic as it is easier to recycle and already has a strong recycling infrastructure. That’s the view of Michael Mapes, CEO of Trivium Packaging, who believes metal packaging can go a long way to reducing carbon emissions and plastic waste pollution. “As a material, metal can be recycled endlessly and processes have already been innovated to reduce the industry’s environmental impact,” Mapes said. “In the last 30 years the quantity of metal in a typical can have been reduced by 46 per cent while continuing...

The fashion industry produces double the amount of clothing that it did 20 years ago and has seen a comparable increase in plastic waste. Is the fashion industry making inroads necessary to cut its use of plastic and ultimately limit its impact on the environment? A report by WIRED earlier this year highlighted the fact that, annually, ‘the fashion industry uses 342 million barrels of petroleum to produce plastic-based fibres such as polyester, nylon or acrylic…equating to 1.35 per cent of global oil consumption.’ While major steps have been, and...

The circular economy of plastic packaging is a vital tool for combating climate change in supply chains and can save money. The EU wants 55 per cent of plastic packaging waste to be recycled by 2030, a big target for which companies involved in making and handling plastics have to follow from design to production and end-of-life. To meet the new targets economic growth and demand for raw materials must be decoupled from each other. To play a role in a circular economy plastic waste would have to be versatile...

A range of low carbon concrete options can be successfully deployed on projects as a like-for-like substitute for traditional concrete. That’s the result of a long-term research programme co-funded by Laing O’Rourke and Innovate UK and in collaboration with the University of Cambridge and Sheffield University’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). Construction company Laing O’Rourke is now switching to low carbon concrete on all of its new UK projects. The exclusive use of low carbon concrete from 1 April this year will accelerate the company’s progress towards its net zero...

Australia must act now to mitigate rising land, sea and air temperatures and avoid more extreme weather events in coming decades. That’s according to the latest State of the Climate report by Australia’s National Science Agency (CSIRO) that found Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.47 ± 0.24 °C since national records began in 1910. Sea surface temperatures have increased by an average of 1.05 °C since 1900. This has led to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events over land and sea. The seventh biennial...

How does a $94 billion-a-year food company meet climate targets and comply with ever-stricter ESG regulations?  Dr Emma Keller, head of sustainability at Nestlé UK & Ireland, details the challenges and successes involved in a net zero journey that spans the globe. Nestlé is the world’s largest publicly held food company and markets 2,000 retail brands including coffee, confectionary, cereals, baby food, ice cream and pet foods. Two years ago the Swiss-based corporation announced an ambitious net zero climate roadmap and has been making significant progress on meeting its sustainability...

With millennials and Gen Z driving the sustainability conversation, people across the world are feeling the effects of the climate crisis – and are determined to do something about it. Views on climate change, environmental impact, and sustainability are now being carried into the workplace and influencing employee decisions – according  to research from IBM, 1 in 3 people who changed jobs accepted an average pay cut of 28 per cent in order to work for a more sustainable organisation. Businesses, however, are seemingly hesitant to meet employee moral expectations...

The Tees Valley project is Western Europe’s most significant economic regeneration development and net zero infrastructure project. At 4,500 acres, it is six times the size of the City of London. Located on Britain’s North Sea coast, the multi-billion dollar development is a global case study for sustainable regeneration. It will see regional business and industry powered by an integrated energy system involving wind, solar, and hydrogen, with a world first carbon capture plant at its core. Energy from the renewables and a new combined cycle power plant will fuel...

Companies should prepare plans for reporting Scope 3 emissions as in UK these are likely to be legally required in the near future. Accurate emissions monitoring and reporting of emissions created from supply and value chains from smaller companies is likely to be required by the UK government and is a vital step to mitigate the climate crisis and can also improve commercial operations. That’s according to Chris Williams, founder and CEO of ISB Global, a software and solutions provider for the waste management and recycling sector, who in a...

Regulation covering the environmental impact of buildings in Europe has been updated to meet new net zero targets. Three years after the European Green Deal prescribed that Europe would become the first climate neutral continent by 2050 and two years after the European Climate Law enacted a precedent to reduce emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030, one of the last acts of the ‘Fit For 55’ package has been ratified by the European Parliament. Revision of the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive updates a 12-year old agreement in...