Top Stories

December 09, 2013

Sustainable Investment

Global brands back recycling network to combat waste in Chile

Five global brands, Nestlé, Walmart, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Unilever have joined forces to improve waste management in Chile by supporting a new recycling network. The ‘Collective Recycling Project’ aims to recycle 1,200 tonnes of waste per year through the installation of five recycling centres in the capital city, Santiago. The new sites aim to provide consumers with an easy and efficient way to recycle their household waste and can recycle around 20 different types of materials. The companies involved will be provided with energy recovery data from the centres to help re-design product packaging in order to reduce waste and improve environmental performance. (Edie)

 

Community

UK’s first ‘social supermarket’ opens to help fight food poverty

The UK’s first ‘social supermarket’ opens today offering people on the verge of food poverty the chance to buy food and drink for up to 70 percent less than normal prices. The Community Shop, in Yorkshire, will sell on residual products such as those with damaged packaging or incorrect labelling from companies including Asda, Morrisons, M&S, Tetley and Young’s, who are all diverting surpluses to the pilot. Membership of the store will be restricted to people living in a specific postcode area and who receive welfare support. Sarah Dunwell, a director of Company Shop, which owns the Community Shop, said that, “with many families facing tough times, we wanted to do more to match surplus stock with people who really need it.” The Community Shop will also offer programmes of wider social and financial support, such as debt advice, CV writing and home budgeting. (Guardian, Independent)

 

Climate Change

China says poorly prepared to fight impact of climate change

China’s Government said today that it is poorly prepared to tackle the impact of climate change due to lack of planning and public awareness. China is the world’s biggest contributor to climate change due to its coal dependent manufacturing base, with pollution levels expected to continue growing over the next ten years.  China is already seeing an increase in challenges from weather extremes with climate change set to further threaten food, water, ecological and energy security. Government steps to mitigate climate change include building more reservoirs, providing better protection to forests and wetlands, and improving weather warning systems. A spokesman from the Government said that, “although our work at dealing with climate change has achieved some success, basic abilities have yet to be raised up, and there are many weak links in our work.” (Eco Business)

Environment

Eastern US states press Midwest to improve air quality

Governors from eight North Eastern US states plan to petition the Environmental Protection Agency to force tighter air pollution regulations on nine Midwestern states. East coast states, including New York and Connecticut have been subject to stricter air pollution requirements than other parts of the country for many years.  Governors from Eastern states have criticised states such as Ohio and Michigan for their more lenient rules on pollution from coal fired power plants and factories, which they claim puts them at an economic advantage.  Governor for Connecticut, Dannel Malloy said that, “we’re paying a lot of money to remove these compounds from the air. That money is reflected in higher energy costs, we’re more than willing to pay that but the states we’re petitioning should follow the same rules.” (New York Times)

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