Coca Cola looks to France to build on UK recycling success
Coca Cola has released the first set of results from a nationwide consumer-facing recycling campaign in France, a country where it is looking to replicate the success of its British closed loop bottle recycling model. Both the UK and France have been targeted by the bottler as countries where recycling rates of PET bottles can be significantly improved. The company is also undertaking work in both countries to study the psychology of consumer waste habits, which has seen it team up with French retail group Casino, to educate consumers through a ‘Give a new life to your bottle’ campaign. The two organisations intend to improve recycling in France, where only 50 percent of plastic bottles are currently recycled. According to Coca-Cola Enterprises’ associate director of recycling Emmanuelle Badouix, the company’s commitment is to reduce the carbon footprint of its products by one third, with packaging representing half of that impact. “The consumer is the first link in the chain, which is why it is essential to educate and engage them on these issues,” she said. (Edie)
Resource efficiency must be new measure for health of economy, say UK MPs
A group of UK Conservative MPs will today publish a manifesto outlining plans for a £5 billion-a-year boost in economic growth, creating 300,000 jobs, by pursuing environmentally friendly policies. In a challenge to climate-change sceptics in the party, the proposal outlines how successful economies of the future will need to embrace both the environment and competitiveness. The publication of the manifesto by the 2020 Group proposes to boost profits for manufacturers and create new jobs by tightening the rules on waste products. The group proposes that laws banning valuable products, including mobiles phones, from being put in landfill, be extended to cover plastics, wood, textiles and food. Laura Sandys, the Conservative MP and 2020 Group member said that, “by making sure things go further – and actually ensuring they travel round the economy rather than being dumped – we must ensure that waste is seen as a resource and not a liability. Only about 17 percent of everything we call waste today is really waste.” (Greenwise, Guardian)
Employees
Lloyds Banking Group to set target for women in senior roles
The UK taxpayer-owned bank, Lloyds Banking Group, has announced that it will aim for 40 percent of its top 5,000 roles to be held by women by 2020, an increase from 28 percent currently. Commenting on the goal, which is the first of its kind by a FTSE-100 company, Helena Morrissey, a campaigner for more women in boardrooms through the 30% Club, said that, “the 30% Club experience shows how a numeric, measurable goal can provide a useful focal point and it is exciting that Lloyds has decided to take a similar step to accelerate progress.” This announcement comes amid further pledges by the bank to lend more to households and small businesses, in an aim to repair its reputation. António Horta-Osório, chief executive of Lloyds, said that, “words alone are not enough to change public perception and regain trust. We must be able to provide meaningful commitments and allow ourselves to be independently measured against those.” (Guardian)
Environment
Fukushima region sets sights on 100% renewable energy by 2040
The Japanese region of Fukushima, left devastated by the 2011 nuclear disaster, has said it will aim to be 100 percent dependent on renewable energy by 2040. The meltdown of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after it was hit by a tsunami three years ago resulted in the Japanese government closing the country’s entire nuclear fleet. A coalition of community initiatives in the Fukushima province is now hoping to transfer all of its power supply to completely renewable sources by 2040, an announcement welcomed by green groups in the region. Currently Fukushima derives 22 percent of its primary energy from renewable sources, but there are already plans to expand an existing offshore wind farm, which currently generates two megawatts of energy, to 143 turbines with the capacity to generate one gigawatt of energy. (Blue&GreenTomorrow, Eco-Business)
Progress slows on company air travel initiative
Companies engaged in a scheme to cut emissions from business flights have increased their air travel over the last year, a report by environmental group WWF concludes. The ‘One in Five’ scheme, run by the WWF, which aims to help organisations cut a fifth of their flights in five years, has concluded that video conferencing is not always a suitable alternative to face-to-face meetings. The distance travelled by air fell sharply for the first three years after companies, including Microsoft, BT, Marks & Spencer and BSkyB, joined the scheme, but a report on the scheme’s fourth year shows an annual increase in both long-haul and short-haul flights. Overall emissions from air travel fell by 36 percent in the first three years of the scheme, but rose by 4 percent in the most recent year. A spokesperson from WWF said that, “WWF believes that business will continue to fly less – not more – in future… Companies profit by flying less.” (Times*)
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