Coca-Cola Amatil today opened its new distribution centre at Eastern Creek in New South Wales, which is partially powered by almost 700 solar panels. The $1.2 million 110 kilowatt solar photovoltaic system will generate 148 megawatt hours of clean renewable energy every year, translating into a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 148 tonnes annually and providing more than 15% of the distribution centre’s energy needs, the manufacturer advised. Other environmentally sustainable features... ...Read more »
Key elements of the EU food industry should be exempt from plans to auction carbon dioxide emissions permits from 2013, the European Commission has said. The EU executive has unveiled a draft list of businesses it fears could relocate to jurisdictions with weaker climate change rules. Under the list released on Friday (18 September), selected industries would have free carbon credits from 2013 to 2020 and pollution permits would be capped at the 2007-8 levels of the most efficient 10% of companies... ...Read more »
In response to the increasing number of ‘green’ claims being made by advertisers, the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) has published an Environmental Claims in Advertising and Marketing Code. The Code has been adopted by AANA to ensure that marketers apply rigorous, industry-wide standards when they make environmental claims in advertising or marketing communications. The use of the term ‘green’ has come to prominence over the past couple of years as companies... ...Read more »
SunChips, a line of multigrain snacks within PepsiCo’s Frito Lay division, announced today that in 2010 it will introduce the first fully compostable snack chip bag made from plant-based materials. The first step towards this transformational packaging will be made this month when the outer layer of packaging on SunChips snack bags will be made with a compostable, plant-based renewable material, polylactic acid (PLA). By Earth Day 2010, PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America division plans... ...Read more »
Food and beverage marketers will need to be more careful with their ‘green’ product claims after the board of the Australian Association of National Advertisers (AANA) announced they would proceed with the development and implementation of an Environmental Claims Advertising and Marketing Code to address the increasing concerns about ‘greenwashing’. Food and beverage companies have been increasingly keen to promote their products as environmentally-friendly in the past few... ...Read more »
A pilot program to test an all-natural refrigeration system in Pepsi-Cola vending machines begins this month in the US. Under the new program, The Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) is placing 30 Pepsi-Cola vending machines in high-consumer traffic areas in the Washington, D.C. area. The machines, which feature the new Pepsi logo along with a special green refrigerant sticker, use less energy and generate 12% less greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than current vending machines. In addition to their energy efficiency... ...Read more »
PepsiCo’s Aquafina, America’s highest selling brand of bottled water, is launching the lightest half-litre bottle of any nationally distributed bottled water brand in the market, according to the beverage giant. At a weight of just 10.9 grams, the Eco-Fina Bottle is made with 50 per cent less plastic than the half-litre Aquafina bottles produced in 2002, eliminating an estimated 75 million pounds of plastic annually. The company is also looking to reduce its carbon footprint by producing... ...Read more »
Yum! Brands the world’s largest restaurant company and parent of Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, KFC, has opened an environmentally-friendly KFC-Taco Bell restaurant in Massachusetts. The restaurant is the Company’s first effort to pursue certification under the United States Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. With the assistance of some of the leading sustainability and restaurant experts, Yum! Brands has carefully studied the environmental... ...Read more »
The economy is starting to cast a shadow over green living’s glow. According to new consumer research from Mintel, the number of Americans who claim to almost always or regularly buy green products remains unchanged since last year, at 36% - suggesting the “green” trend has begun to stagnate. This lack of growth comes after tripling the previous year (from 12% in 2007 to 36% in 2008, according to Mintel consumer survey data). Marcia Mogelonsky, Ph. D and senior research analyst... ...Read more »
Tesco opened its first store of the future last week in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, a store they believe to be the UK’s most energy efficient. The store has been built using Tesco’s new low carbon blueprint which will provide a foundation for stores built in the UK going forward, and follows similar claims by other UK supermarkets last year that they had opened the region’s most energy efficient supermarket. Asda and Sainsbury’s, the region’s second and third largest... ...Read more »