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October 01, 2014

Strategy

SITA remains carbon-neutral with circular economy approach

The circular economy model adopted by recycling and waste management company SITA kept the firm carbon-neutral in 2013, despite emitting 578,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. According to the firm’s new sustainability report, C02 emissions were offset by the 855,000 Mwh of electricity generated from energy recovery schemes. “Recovering energy from waste can benefit the environment, reduce carbon emissions, reduce reliance on finite resources and provide economic opportunities”, said the report.  SITA also recycled 62 percent of the 8.7 million tonnes of waste it handled in 2013, well ahead of the EU target of 50 percent recycling for household waste. Despite the firm’s own successes, SITA chief executive David Palmer-Jones said that government intervention in the market was needed to incentivise a circular economy. “A recent UN Global Compact survey of 1000 leading CEOs found that, many had taken their companies as far as they could [on sustainability], given the structures, incentives and demands of the market”, he said. (Edie)

 

United Biscuits soaks up waste vegetable oil to power lorries

McVitie’s biscuits, Jaffa Cakes and Twiglets can offer a greener snack after producer United Biscuits started powering its delivery trucks with used cooking oil. United Biscuits revealed late last week that it has converted 12 of its lorry fleet to run on used cooking oil, promising to cut CO2 emissions for each truck by 97 per cent compared to diesel fuel. The lorries are expected to take 500 tonnes of vegetable oil each year, which is a by-product of United Biscuits manufacturing operations. United Biscuits has partnered with Convert2Green on the project to modify the lorry engines so they can run solely on waste cooking oil. The company said it now hoped to roll out the technology across the wider business. Rob Wright, head of distribution at United Biscuits, said: “It is estimated the UK generates 250 million litres of waste oils a year, and we are delighted to be able to demonstrate a sustainable use for this waste material with potential to deliver significant CO2 savings from transport within the UK”. (Business Green)

 

Saint-Gobain urged to step up CSR commitments by external advisory panel

Multinational habitat and construction corporation Saint-Gobain should be setting more ambitious targets in the areas of energy and waste, and could take its sustainability reporting a step further by reporting more clearly on its overall environmental performance. That’s the view of a newly-appointed sustainable development advisory panel, which Saint-Gobain brought in earlier this year to provide critical advice, guidance and feedback to the company in order to improve its CSR advancement. In its latest 2013 CSR report, Chair of the advisory panel Dr Alan Knight said: “Establishing an external panel has been a brave move for the business which embraced dialogue and challenge in a positive way… This is a strong positive step on its sustainability reporting journey”. Saint-Gobain have pledged to ‘exceed the national carbon emissions reduction targets’ by 2020. But the report states that the company’s total direct CO2 emissions actually rose by 2990 tonnes between 2012 and 2013. Reviewing the CSR report, Knight added: “We believe more ambitious targets could be set in important areas such as carbon and energy, and waste”. (Edie)

Corporate Reputation

The iPhone 6 coming soon to China, after stern look at security

The Chinese government has granted Apple the final license required to release the new iPhone 6 in mainland China. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) granted the network access license following the inspection of four iPhone 6 models. However, alongside the approval, MIIT has added to its website a detailed description of security concerns that it had with Apple’s iOS operating system. The ministry said it was worried about diagnostic tools that run on the iPhone that could compromise users’ private data when the users connect their phones to computers. Apple provided “official materials” to show that the company cannot gain access to customer data without approval from the customer and that the new iOS 8 operating system is more resistant to attempts to steal customer data. Condemning the revelations on the ministry’s website, Wang Yanhui, secretary of the China Mobile Alliance, said: “What the ministry tests to give this license has nothing to do with the warnings they included about these holes in security”. (New York Times)

 

Farmers stung twice by Grupo Mexico’s waterway pollution spill

Farmers have been forced to abandon crops and livestock in the Sonora region, as a result of the largest mining spill in Mexico’s history. Last month the Sonora River was polluted by a copper sulphate solution that spilled from Grupo Mexico’s Buenavista del Cobre mine. The waterway then overflowed as Hurricane Odile soaked the region, flooding the fields. According to Luis Nunez, the Economy Ministry’s Sonora representative, about 90 percent of farm production has been halted in the region, with local businesses losing around $52 million in the first month alone. Grupo Mexico has set up a $150 million trust for damage repairs. It has also agreed to increase the fund should costs rise, according to the federal government. The company has mopped up about two-thirds of the toxins in the Sonora River, using lime to neutralise its acidity, according to deputy environmental prosecutor Arturo Rodriguez. However, local farmer Marco Antonio Corrales, who has given up on his peanut and alfalfa crops, said: “The mining company comes, pays the fine and leaves, and the village still suffers”. (Bloomberg)

 

Image source: “IPhone keynote cropped” by textlad / CC BY 2.0

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