As of January 2000, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission requires public companies to comply with local environmental standards. New company listings will be analyzed in terms of corporate governance, transparency and information disclosure. Parties will be able to challenge a company’s listing and file class-action lawsuits over grievances.
“Green Marketing: Risk or Opportunity?” from the Business for Social Responsibility Education Fund, is a 12-page paper aimed at helping companies communicate their environmental efforts effectively. It includes examples across a range of industries. Contact Jessica Parsley.
The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation & Development) has drafted a new code of conduct for multinational companies, which has not been substantially updated since 1976. The code strengthens standards for the environment, workplace conditions, bribery, and corporate governance. These are non-binding recommendations to help multinationals operate in harmony with government policies and with societal expectations. Some OECD member states point out that monitoring compliance to the tougher rules will be difficult. It is expected the guidelines will be approved at a June 2000 meeting. Public comments are being accepted until February 15, 2000. http://www.oecd.org/daf/investment/guidelines/newtext.htm
Over the past year, participants in the Eco-Industrial Development Roundtable have been defining guidelines to implement eco-industrial development. They were drafted at Cape Charles, Virginia, the first such park to get off the ground, tested at the Mesa del Sol park in Albuquerque, and reviewed in Minneapolis at the Green Institute. The result is a Handbook of Codes which is a document in process. Your feedback is welcome. The next meeting of the Eco-Industrial Development Roundtable will be held in Mississippi, February 28-29. For a list of eco-industrial parks, see: [sorry this link is no longer available]
It turns out that the price tag for Honda’s 2000 Accord EX, which meets California’s Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle standard (the most stringent in the world), is only $100 more than the 1999 model, at $23,200. It is the first car on the market to receive this SULEV certification; the engine emits only 2.3 pounds of hydrocarbons per 100,000 miles of driving, which is equal to spilling a quart of gasoline. The car beats the deadline to meet the SULEV standard, which goes into effect at the beginning of the 2004 model year; its emissions are 86 percent lower than the Low Emission Vehicle standard, which 85 percent of all Hondas now meet.
Fundacin Ecologa y Desarrollo produces the first newsletter in Spanish on Economy and Corporate Social Responsibility. Contact: ecodes@ecodes.org
Cargill Dow Polymers, a joint venture between Cargill Inc. and the Dow Chemical Company, will build the first large-scale bioplastic plant in Blair, Nebraska. It will produce raw material for plastic cups, packaging, and fabric from corn, replacing common petroleum plastics like polyethylene, polystyrene and polypropylene. The bioplastic products are expected to compete with oil-based products on price and performance. The 140,000 metric ton plant will be completed late next year at a cost of $300 million. The technology, called “NatureWorks”, makes polyactide polymers (chains of lactic acid) by converting starch into sugar and then fermenting it to yield lactic acid. Water is removed to form lactide, which is made into a resin using solvent-free polymerization. The material composts into carbon dioxide and water. Agricultural waste from rice and wheat may also be used in the future. Cargill expects to begin construction of a large European plant in two years. [sorry this link is no longer available]
Durable, repairable or reusable, remanufactured, concentrated, unpackaged – these are the attributes of less wasteful products. A new free report from INFORM, Inc., “Waste at Work: Prevention Strategies for the Bottom Line”, brings together simple, yet significant strategies for reducing waste at the workplace. It includes dozens of brief success stories that show how buying durable and reusable products can save millions of dollars in avoided replacement, disposal, and shipping costs. The appendices list products for office areas, shipping, food service, landscaping, and building, along with a model procurement policy. The Alliance for Environmental Innovation recently published two reports on business use of paper. The first, “Greening Catalogs” examines ways catalog companies can reduce environmental impacts of paper use. The second, “Leading By Example: How Businesses are Expanding the Market for Environmentally Preferable Paper,” describes changes five major U.S. companies have made in how they buy and use paper, benefiting the environment and their business. – McDonald’s: eliminated 27,000 tons of packaging material, saving over $12 million over 7 years. The company uses recycled paper in half its food packaging. – United Parcel Service: its 2-way envelope cuts the amount of packaging material the company uses in HALF per shipment. […]
A new sustainable forest management standard in Canada was developed by a consensus of stakeholders, including the forest industry, woodlot owners, governments, academics, scientists, and environmental groups. Forest companies can now certify their environmental management systems with the Standards Council of Canada if they conform to the new published standard (CAN/CSA Z809-96). http://www.scc.ca
Pacific Northwest National Lab has developed “Facility Energy Decision System Screening (FEDS) Software.” The user-friendly Windows-based software quickly assesses the potential for cost-effective energy-efficiency projects at a single building or at sites with numerous facilities that have limited, metered, energy-use data. It enables decision-makers to prioritize the most promising investments; it estimates capital investment requirements, and determines potential energy and cost savings. The U.S. DOE is funding it for use in federal and state projects; they are interested in licensing the software to a commercial partner for use by private companies. Contact William F. Sandusky.
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