Diageo, the world leading premium alcoholic drinks business, has announced plans for a pioneering bioenergy facility at Scotland’s largest distillery, Cameronbridge in Fife, as the alcohol industry heightens their focus on sustainability. Following two years of rigorous research, Diageo, which makes leading global brands including Johnnie Walker, Guinness, Baileys and Smirnoff, has signed a formal partnership agreement with energy management company, Dalkia, to create the new facility. The... ...Read more »
UK retailer, ASDA, has launched an innovative recycled cardboard milk container: the first milk bottle in the UK to be 91 per cent recycled (from waste office paper) and 99 per cent recyclable. The two litre milk bottle, created by GreenBottle, has a carbon footprint that is 48 per cent lower than plastic. GreenBottles have an outer shell which is made from recycled paper, which can then be further recycled. The low density inner liner, which takes up less than 0.5 per cent of the space of a traditional... ...Read more »
Coles is among the first retailers in Australia to implement a natural refrigerant system in its new Ropes Crossing store, opening this September. The system will eliminate up to 700 tonnes from the store’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. The Ropes Crossing development was completed with the assistance of the Green Cooling Council, a not-for-profit organisation founded by members and suppliers of the refrigeration industry. The Green Cooling Council (formerly the NRTB) has been working with... ...Read more »
The UK’s leading supermarket operator, Tesco, is planning to cut its carbon footprint by using straw to power its business.Tesco has been given the go ahead to build Britain’s first ever straw-powered Combined Heat and Power plant to meet the electricity and heating needs of its Goole Distribution Centre. The new plant will generate 5MW of electrical power - enough energy to run eight Tesco Superstores. “We’ve set ourselves stretching targets to reduce the carbon intensity... ...Read more »
The introduction of more environmentally-friendly packaging is beginning to lead to changes in the beverage industry, particularly within the bottled water sector. Traditionally plastic bottles have been made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate), a petroleum-based plastic, but new options are beginning to crop up. One such example is made from Ingeo, a plant based natural plastic. NatureWorks LLC, the makers of Ingeo, claim that if all plastic PET beverage bottles made from crude oil sold today... ...Read more »
Improving the environmental performance and, in particular, the energy efficiency of products and stimulating their market uptake are the core objectives of a package put forward by the European Commission. It sets out a series of voluntary and obligatory actions to support a coherent and dynamic policy in the EU and internationally, helping to define eco-friendly products, informing the consumer through improved labelling and supporting their purchase through public procurement and fiscal incentives. Commission... ...Read more »
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairman, Mr Graeme Samuel, today launched a set of ACCC guidance materials on carbon offsets claims. The launch of new guidelines has been made to deal with concerns about marketers overstating the improvements organisations have made to their company to offset carbon emissions. “There is a growing trend of marketing claims about the ability to ‘neutralise’ the carbon footprint of, for example, cars, flights and households... ...Read more »
Environmentally-friendly menu options have a good chance of improving a restaurant’s bottom line and providing competitive differentiation if marketed aggressively to consumers, according to a recently released report by market research company The NPD Group. The NPD report, entitled, “Greener Menus: Can Environmentally-Conscious Menus Also Green the Bottom Line?” looks at consumer attitudes on environmental issues related to food and dining, and examines the revenue potential... ...Read more »
The H. J. Heinz Company has vowed to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent by 2015. The effort is part of Heinz’s sustainability vision as they seek to be a leader in this field. “From using potato peels to generate energy, to reducing the amount and size of our packaging, every day we’re finding new ways to reduce our environmental footprint and improve the efficiency of our company,” said Heinz CEO Bill Johnson. “Everyone in the Heinz community is involved... ...Read more »
A wave of ‘green’ supermarkets is set to hit Australia as supermarkets begin to tackle alarming emission rates. The concept, which follows similar commitments by European supermarkets, primarily revolves around the improvement of refrigeration systems to lower global warming potential of refrigerants. A $2 million Federal Government grant has been provided to the Green Cooling Council (formerly the NRTB), under the Greenhouse Gas Abatement Program, to evaluate the benefits of new technologies... ...Read more »