PG Tips targets tea bag recycling with Recyclebank
PG Tips has joined forces with Recyclebank to raise consumer awareness of tea bag recycling through a social media campaign. The issue of tea bag waste is an important one to the company behind the PG Tips brand, Unilever. As part of its ‘Sustainable Living Plan’, the company has committed to halving the waste associated with its products by 2020 and tea bags account for its biggest waste footprint in the UK. A joint campaign, across the PG Tips Facebook page and Recyclebank's own website, features a video informing consumers how best used tea bags can be disposed of. Those who engage in the campaign will be given the chance to learn and earn rewards which convert into money off coupons for PG Tips products. (Edie)
Essar oil poised to unveil debt deal with China
India’s Essar Oil, a division of London-listed Essar Energy, is set to announce an unusual debt financing deal with state-run China Development Bank (CBD), in a further sign of deepening financial ties between Asia’s two largest emerging economies. The heavily indebted group will sign a three-way memorandum of understanding on a “funding for fuel” agreement between itself, CDB, and oil producer PetroChina. It is the first such arrangement involving a big Indian company but follows other Chinese overseas loan-for-oil deals, including an agreement with the Government of Venezuela, to which China loaned $20bn in 2010 in exchange for guaranteed oil shipments. (Financial Times*)
Policy & Research
Renewable energy: 'more evidence' and 'less media hype'
A call for fact-based research on the role of renewables within the UK's energy mix has been issued by cross-party think tank Carbon Connect. The call came last week at Westminster during the launch of an inquiry into the role of renewable energy in future of UK electricity generation. Speaking at the event, opposition Energy and Climate Change spokesperson in the House of Lords, Baroness Worthington, said: "We need to conduct less of our energy policy discussions in the hype of the media, and really get down and do our homework on the fundamentals that underpin the electricity market. Entitled Power from Renewables, the inquiry is the second in a three-part series. (Edie)
Reporting
Adidas misses goal to verify supplier data
Adidas missed its goal to verify supplier data last year, according to the company’s 2012 Sustainability Progress Report. The verification is a necessary step towards Adidas’s targeted 10-15 percent cut in relative energy consumption at core suppliers by 2015. The sportswear maker says it could not fully verify the data in 2012, meaning it could not finalise a baseline or fully develop its energy reduction targets for suppliers. The company plans to complete these tasks in 2013. (Environmental Leader)
Renewable Energy
Goldman Sachs invests in Japan renewable energy
Goldman Sachs, the investment banking giant, plans to invest as much as 50bn yen ($487m) in renewable energy projects in Japan in the next five years, tapping demand for electricity produced from solar and wind-power generators. Goldman Sachs believes that it can leverage its global expertise in investing in renewable energy in places such as the U.S. and India, to help expand Japan’s renewable power capabilities. The injection comes after Japan began offering incentives last year through feed-in tariffs to encourage renewables after the Fukushima nuclear-plant crisis. Japan has been forced to slash its reliance on atomic power generation since Fukushima. (Bloomberg)
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