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Milliken, known for its Earth Square 100 percent post-consumer waste modular carpet, announced recently that 43 of its 55 U.S. locations sent zero waste to landfills in 1999. Overall, the company recycles or reuses 99 percent of its waste. The company has a host of environmental initiatives. In one of the most water-intensive industries, it has cut water usage by about half since 1991. It recycles and re-uses water and has introduced manufacturing technologies that inherently use less water. Milliken recycles 100 percent of office paper since 1992; and uses 88 percent fewer SARA chemicals since 1988. It maintains an extensive employee environmental education program and has reached zero landfill levels with numerous commodities from coal ash to wooden pallets. Milliken was the first U.S. textile company to eliminate the use of chlorinated solvents, in favor of organic alternatives derived from fruits, forest products, and other natural sources. [sorry this link is no longer available] [sorry this link is no longer available]
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By bringing industry stakeholders together, the USPS solved one of its “stickier” recycling problems, but more importantly, it modeled how the industry can cooperate to facilitate recycling. Pressure-sensitive adhesives (PSA), such as stamps, on paper “gum” up the works and make recycling difficult. When they are introduced into the paper-recycling stream, they break down into small particles called “stickies.” Stickies can adhere to wires and felts in the equipment, resulting in costly downtime for cleaning and repairing. Paper recyclers have been reluctant to accept waste paper that has a high PSA content. In 1994, the USPS initiated the Environmentally Benign Pressure Sensitive Adhesives Program to develop stamp adhesives that can be easily recycled. Although the focus was on stamps, the adhesives developed through this extensive joint effort will lower costs for recycling and repulping operations in general, make paper recycling much more economical. Out of an initial group of 42 adhesive samples, 10 adhesives were chosen to undergo full-scale testing and production runs at various recycling mills. Industry participants came from all segments of this diverse industry: researchers from government and industry, including members of the Forest Products Laboratory (U. S. Department of Agriculture), the adhesive industry, paper manufacturers, recyclers, […]
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ISO 14001 certification is taken much more seriously in Europe – but it is starting to take root in the U.S. The Ford and General Motors requirement that all suppliers become ISO 14001-certified could provide the missing catalyst for growth of ISO 14001 certification in the U.S. About 11,000 suppliers will be implementing environmental management systems (EMS) along with getting certified – a boon for EMS-related services as well as the environment. Other corporations will no doubt follow suit. In an article, “Automotive Industry Catalyzes ISO 14000 Growth in the U.S,” author Anthony Buonicore notes these actions reflect the increased emphasis corporations are placing on environmental stewardship and public opinion, as well as the benefits of ISO 14001 in instilling “a discipline in the manufacturing operation which can be invaluable in uncovering savings.” In the construction industry, Skanska USA recently completed ISO 14001 certification for all U.S. operations ($3 billion in annual revenues). The Swedish parent company, Skanska AB, pledged to have all its divisions certified by the end of 2000. This is a difficult industry to certify because many of the players, especially in residential home building, are subcontractors working out of pick-up trucks. Neil Deluca, CEO of Spectrum […]
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The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), the worldwide forestry certification body, has been under pressure for some time to relax aspects of its standards for forest certification. It is a fine line to walk – standards must be strict enough to protect forests and yet open enough so that operations can reasonably meet them. FSC has made the difficult decision to relax two of its standards. To encourage more companies to participate in certification, chip and fiber products can carry the FSC label if only 30 percent of the wood comes from a certified forest (reduced from 70 percent). The bar will be raised back to 50 percent by 2005. Second, to address the very high handling costs involved in separating certified from non-certified products one by one, the FSC label can be applied to groups of similar products, such as fence poles. In another development, the 1,070 hectare Hayami Forest is the first forest in Japan to receive FSC certification. “As a major player in Pacific Rim trade, certification is an important step for Japan to take,” explains Debbie Hammel of Scientific Certification Systems, the certifying agent. The FSC logo will appear on Japanese products, heightening awareness of sustainable forestry […]
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Now, that the National Organic Standard is close to being approved, what are some of the issues the industry is grappling with? Major supermarket chains and large conventional food product companies will launch organic lines. This is great news for the availability of organic foods – no doubt. General Mills’s organic division already grosses about $100 million in annual sales. But as large players enter the market, prices may be squeezed for the small organic farmer, and what of the retailers that have fueled the industry’s growth all these years? The industry has been dealing with the joys and pains of rapid growth for the last decade. Amidst 20 percent-plus annual growth rates and the satisfaction of seeing their dreams realized as a result of mainstream interest, small retailers are re-evaluating their position, distributors are straining to meet demands, and margins are shrinking. Mainstream grocers are muscling in for the action. It’s not hard to understand why when you look at the figures; when the numbers are in, industry experts project sales in organic food for 1999 to be 17-22 percent higher than 1998. Compare that to long term growth rates of two percent for mainstream groceries. According to a […]
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The Belgium government has proposed a four year sustainable development plan for the country which would begin implementation in June. The final draft is expected by the end of March. Its measures include: * increase renewable energy to 2% of the total by 2010, financed by a 3% tax break on the sale of green energy * increase the number of organic farms to 4% of the agricultural sector by 2004 * decrease household energy consumption by 7.5% by 2010 and by 10% in public buildings by 2004. There are other measures such as a fixed tax on cars, as well as efforts to protect biodiversity, health, and poverty issues. The plan was developed by the Belgian Federal Planning Bureau, the Belgian government and the Inter-Departmental Commission on Sustainable Development.
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Private investment capital to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars is being assembled, fitting another piece into the puzzle of mainstreaming renewable energy. Last month we looked at some of these emerging investment vehicles; this month we’ve learned of more. Remember, keep checking our Venture Capital/Financing section for updates. Investors remain cautious of this sector; it can’t give “Internet-level” returns and past failures of the sector are still on peoples’ minds. But with the recent flurry of market activity around fuel cell stocks and heightening institutional concern, investors are signing on in increasing numbers. Impax Capital is an investment bank with offices in London and Philadelphia that specializes in renewable energy and environmental technology. The company has raised over $300 million in debt and equity for its clients, and has mandates to raise $700 million of project finance over the next two years. One project is a 60 million straw-fired power station in England that will consume 200,000 tonnes of straw a year, generating electricity to supply 65,000 homes. Impax is a partner in the development of a $25 million venture capital fund, Entegrity II with James Heath, formerly president of Energy Investors Funds. Entegrity II will invest […]
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The City of Seattle has committed to build all public buildings over 5000 square feet to meet or exceed the silver rating of the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) LEED Green Building Rating System. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Seattle is experiencing its biggest building boom since 1889 when fire swept through the city destroying many buildings. About a billion dollars worth of downtown public buildings are in the works. It plans to demolish and redesign a central two-block area which is slated to become the heart of the city. The city is building a new city hall, justice center, and central plaza, all of which will meet LEED’s silver level. The $222 million civic campus will include both renovated and new building projects. Seattle formed a Green Team over a year ago to tie environmental concerns to city construction policy. Lucia Athens, the Sustainable Design & Construction specialist for Seattle Public Utilities, who chaired the group, says they chose LEED for a number of reasons. It not only defines what a green building is but it allows flexibility in selecting different green strategies as appropriate for various building projects. The Seattle Sustainable Building Strategic Plan: […]
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This UK small business is moving along many fronts to implement its vision: a network of regional industries based on sustainable land-use, providing fulfilling employment and maintaining biodiversity. BioRegional’s MiniMill is a small-scale mill which pulps locally-grown non-wood fibers such as hemp, flax, jute, wheat or rice straw. It enables any country to use local fiber resources and people, reducing the pressure on forests, providing employment, and cutting transport costs associated with global warming. Its clean, energy efficient, closed loop totally chlorine-free technology can readily be transferred to countries where small pulp mill pollution is a serious problem. Besides BioRegional Development Group, shareholders include six leading paper companies and the WorldWide Fund for Nature International. The group’s latest project marks the first time a local UK authority sold land to a developer that offers more environmental benefit than money. Dubbed the “Zero Energy Development,”(ZED) BDG is building a sustainable urban village on a reclaimed landfill site in South London. It will house 300 people in 90 apartments, maisonettes and houses, as well as 20-30 businesses. Building features include solar-powered, grass-roofed structures using advanced energy efficiency technology. Local materials will be used in construction. The project leaves 50 acres for lavender […]
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The second draft of USDA’s proposed Organic Rule, released on March 7, takes the U.S. a giant step closer to having a national standard for organic product certification. It incorporates the groundswell of citizen and organic industry comments (275,000 of them) that were vehemently opposed to major portions of the first draft. In presenting the plan, Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman stated the uniform standard “is the most comprehensive and strongest organic standard in the world. I believe that is exactly what American consumers and organic farmers want.” The Union of Concerned Scientists notes this marks the first time the USDA responded to citizen concerns for a healthy food supply rather than defending its traditional agri-business constituency. The Organic Rule sets consistent national standards for organic produce, animal products, processed foods, and, in the future, for fish. It covers the growing, processing and handling of products that can be labeled “organic.” It details the practices and substances that can be used. Currently, organic food is certified by numerous private and state organizations, all with their own standards. One national standard will go a long way to mainstream the organic industry: it will facilitate citizen confidence in organic products, industry exports will […]
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