Kraft Heinz unveils new circular packaging strategy in plastic reduction drive
After surpassing its 2020 packaging reduction aims two years early, consumer goods giant Kraft Heinz has committed to ensuring all its packaging is either recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025 as it strives to become more circular. The US-based food and beverage firm said in a statement it would “aggressively pursue” innovative alternatives to virgin plastics in a bid to meet the new aim, which comes after Kraft Heinz pledged to make its iconic Heinz Tomato Ketchup Bottles “fully circular” by 2022. Kraft Heinz isn’t sure yet how it will address non-recyclable and non-reusable packaging, like ketchup packets. Disposal of single-use sachets have proved a problem for others in the industry as they can’t be easily recycled through regular municipal programs. Alongside its new packaging targets, Kraft Heinz announced that it is on track to set an approved science-based target in the next two years. Kraft Heinz’ chief executive, Bernardo Hees, said. “Even though we don’t yet have all the answers, we owe it to current and future generations who call this planet home to find better packaging solutions and actively progress efforts to improve recycling rates.” (Edie, Bloomberg)
Sustainable Fashion
ELLE UK dedicates September issue to sustainability
The September issue of UK fashion magazine, Elle, will be dedicated to sustainability issues in the industry. The focus will be on how both fashion industry and consumers can make meaningful changes to the way they work and shop to help the environment. As part of the issue, ELLE UK conducted research to find out the attitudes and awareness of sustainability in fashion among young women in the UK. Two thirds were unaware that the fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters and the same proportion were more likely to buy an item of clothing from a brand that values sustainability. Within the magazine, ELLE speaks to a range of designers, authors, experts and icons about pushing for active change toward a more sustainable future. (Elle)
Brands make ‘mixed progress’ on viscose pollution in Asia
Luxury brands such as Gucci, Prada and Chanel sit alongside low-cost apparel retailers, such as Asda, Lidl and online brands Boohoo and Missguided when it comes to transparency in their viscose textile supply chains, according to a new update from the UK-based Changing Markets Foundation. The update follows a year on from its original report on viscose pollution, which implicated fashion brands such as H&M, Marks & Spencer, Levi Strauss and Zara in viscose pollution incidents in China, India and Indonesia. No actual sampling of wastewater from viscose mills was done in 2018, although seven apparel brands have now signed up to a new roadmap for change, while viscose suppliers Lenzing and Aditya Birla have agreed to ensure all their sites meet EU Ecolabel requirements by 2022. (Ecotextile)
Digital Ethics
Twitter turns to academics to improve conversational health on the platform
Twitter is partnering with two groups of academic researchers to figure out how to measure the health of conversations happening on the platform. In March, Twitter called for proposals from researchers to see how they might approach the issue of analytics around the types and manner of conversations on Twitter. These proposals reviewed by Twitter employees from across the company, including Engineering, Product, Machine Learning, Data Science, Trust and Safety, Legal and Research. The first set of metrics academic research teams are focusing on will look at the extent to which people acknowledge and engage with diverse viewpoints on Twitter. The second set of metrics will look at the difference between incivility and intolerance. (TechCrunch)
Climate Change/ Policy
Analysts raise EU carbon price forecasts following market reforms
Financial analysts have raised their forecasts for carbon prices in the EU Emission Trading System (ETS) to 2020 after a confident start to the year and on expectations that plans to reform the market will significantly curb oversupply. Analysts also for the first time gave forecasts for 2021 which averaged 21.88 euro/ton, almost 30 percent higher than current trading levels for the benchmark European carbon contract. The European Union’s Emissions Trading System (ETS) charges power plants and factories for every ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) they emit. The ETS has suffered from excess supply since the financial crisis, but this will be addressed by new measures starting from 2019, such as the Market Stability Reserve which will remove some of the surplus allowances from the market. (Bloomberg)
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