Month: January 2024

Originally published in the SEE® Impact Report 2022

Manali Banerjee, Ph.D. is a senior scientist working on SEE’s fiber-based 
protective packaging portfolio. She is responsible for the development of new paper and cellulose packaging solutions and leading the process from lab-scale prototypes to manufacturing. Outside of work, Manali is the co-host of the “Talk Green to Me” podcast, which features interviews with experts on materials and sustainability topics.

How is the work you’re doing advancing SEE’s fiber-based portfolio?

My team and I identify key properties and source paper and fiber materials that will provide the protection SEE’s customers require. I use paper materials to develop new solutions such as mailers, sustainable foams, and other types of protective packaging. My work includes expanding our testing capabilities for paper-based products, writing standing operating procedures for new paper testing equipment, and broadening our knowledge of fiber-based products.

How is SEE integrating paper and fiber materials across its packaging solutions portfolio?

SEE has actually had paper and fibers in its portfolio for a long time. Solutions such as SEALED AIR® brand padded mailers, the SEALED AIR® brand ProPad paper cushioning system, and SEALED AIR® brand TempGuard insulated box liners all use paper from SEE’s own paper mills. Ultimately, we are aiming to expand and integrate fiber materials with our automation capabilities to create robust on-demand paper solutions for our customers as we have done with plastics.

Talk about the science and technology behind paper and what makes the material not only an overall sustainable packaging solution, but also a good choice for product protection.

Paper and fiber technologies have been around for a long time because paper and cellulose fibers are renewable materials that come from trees and plants, which are abundantly available. Being completely recyclable and biodegradable, paper is a great sustainable material for making products. The key innovation behind SEE’s paper and fiber-based packaging solutions is achieving performance. The stiffness and strength of the material make paper a great void-fill solution. There is also high-impact protection because of the tear strength of paper, especially virgin paper, since cellulose fibers are long and retain the strength. Similarly, the long cellulose fibers can make paper quite moldable, which is a property that is leveraged for cushioning.

What recent innovations has SEE made within its paper/fiber portfolio that are solving our customers’ challenges?

SEE recently launched the AUTOBAG® brand 850S paper mail order fulfillment system, which offers two types of paper mailers: bleached (which can be imprinted) and natural Kraft. This is the first-of-its kind semi-automated bagger that can use paper mailers—a huge step in advancing our fiber packaging portfolio. End users can easily recycle these mailers in curbside bins. While we already have discrete mailers in the paper space, adding automation is a differentiator. SEE’s new BUBBLE WRAP® brand paper bubble mailer also brings cushioning protection to our mailer portfolio while keeping the entire solution fiber based and recyclable. This solution meets the needs of many customers who are looking for a sustainable alternative that doesn’t compromise product protection.

How did we incorporate the look, feel, and protection of our flagship product, BUBBLE WRAP® brand original cushioning, into a paper packaging solution?

I started working on the BUBBLE WRAP® brand paper bubble mailer shortly after joining SEE and used my experience in paper engineering to determine the exact properties and ranges of properties that would get us to the level of protection that our existing mailers provide. We also wanted to go back to our roots and get the appearance of bubbles within a mailer. Various SEE teams evaluated papers in the lab and on the line to ensure the materials would provide cushioning and convert properly without tearing. The end result was the right paper thickness combined with SEE’s legacy bubble pattern that gives the mailer the necessary loft and protection.

Read the full SEE Impact Report 2022

ATLANTA, January 3, 2024 /3BL/ – Georgia-Pacific is proud to announce that the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) has awarded the company the 2023 Leadership in Sustainability Award for the Save My Life Digital Work Process. This award recognizes exemplary sustainability programs in the paper and wood products manufacturing industry. It marks the first time the company has been awarded for its safety efforts, having earned two awards in 2021 for energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction, and innovations across recycling in the supply chain and the 2022 award for Innovation in Sustainability for Juno® technology.

The Save My Life process represents a transformation of traditional permit-to-work processes, utilizing technology to put the best information in front of employees when they need it. It was developed with the help of our front-line employees and is based on our mental model of human action and our company-wide application of Human and Organizational Performance. It transforms the permit-to-work model from “stop, think, and ask” to “start when certain,” ensuring that both prevention and recovery controls are in place before beginning high-risk work.

This new process has already resulted in over 1,800 “catches” where additional controls were applied before starting work. It is an important tool in reducing the risk of the most serious injuries and is part of our commitment to the aspirational goal of zero injuries.

 We are honored to receive this award and remain committed to the safety of our employees. We will continue to strive for zero injuries, emphasizing continual progress on reducing serious injuries and fatalities.

Learn more about the Save My Life process and the employees who are traveling the country to share their experience with other industry professionals.

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We are honored to have received the Equality100 score from the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. This is our 8th consecutive year receiving this achievement, and it reaffirms our commitment to cultivating a diverse and inclusive workplace. Learn more: www.hrc.org/CEI

At AllianceBernstein, we want every person to have the opportunity to succeed based on merit, regardless of race, color, religion, creed, ancestry, national origin, sex, age, disability, marital status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, gender identity expression, military or veteran status, or any other criterion. Why is this so important? To us, diverse and inclusive teams enriched with people of distinctive backgrounds make us better. They help us generate better ideas, reach more balanced decisions, engage our communities and help our clients achieve better outcomes.

Learn more about AB’s approach to responsibility here

Embracing sustainability and reducing our environmental footprint has been a longstanding priority at Cisco. For almost two decades, Cisco has set transparent, publicly declared objectives as benchmarks, diligently tracking our progress and holding ourselves accountable. Additionally, we’ve developed comprehensive programs to empower customers to achieve their sustainability goals.

We understand that sustainability is a collaborative effort, and success requires leveraging our extensive partner network. Collaboration is essential, and it’s through working with our partners that we foster innovation and gain support across the value chain. To this end, Cisco has developed several sustainability-focused programs that enable partners to offer customers end-to-end solutions designed with sustainability in mind, while also enhancing deal profitability.

Net zero by 2040

Cisco has embarked on an ambitious journey towards sustainability, aiming to achieve net-zero status by the year 2040. This goal has not been mere words but supported by continuous improvement and innovation across our entire business landscape. Our primary focus has been on delivering tangible, data-validated advancements that lead us closer to the realization of all our sustainability goals, ultimately culminating in our net-zero goal.

These efforts have not gone unnoticed. The approval of our net-zero goal by Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) stands as a testament to the robustness of our plan, the allocation of resources, and the soundness of our strategic approach. This validation confirms our determination to truly meet these targets, helping to forge a path towards a more sustainable future.

As for our partners, whether you are just starting this journey or already investing, there are four key Cisco programs to consider, through which we work together to meet our sustainability objectives.

Earn Your Cisco Environmental Sustainability Specialization

Launched in 2022, the Environmental Sustainability Specialization (ESS) equips partners with Cisco-specific sustainability knowledge. It covers key sustainability terms, the technology behind our Sustainable Solutions, Cisco’s commitment to a circular economy, and supporting programs. Only one person in the company needs to complete this training and exam. For others in the partner organization, we have additional efforts to educate partner sellers on these topics. If you’re not the one going through formal training, we’ll summarize the partner programs you should leverage in this blog.

Leverage the Cisco Takeback & Reuse Program Plus Incentive

Cisco’s Takeback and Reuse program is integral to CEO Chuck Robbins’ commitment to reclaim 100% of customer gear at no cost while providing partners with discount incentives. This program is an important step towards a circular economy, ensuring the responsible end-of-life management of returned equipment, with a remarkable 99.9% material recycling or reuse success rate.

Partners benefit from this initiative through a stackable discount of up to 7% on Refresh deals, applied to new equipment when replacing older gear. To learn more, visit our Takeback and Reuse Program page. Please note that this incentive is exclusively available to partners with ESS certification and program enrollment, so ensure your company is specialized to take advantage of it.

Strategically Position Cisco Refresh

With Takeback products, we seize the opportunity to remanufacture gear based on their life stage, making them available through the Cisco Refresh program. This refurbished gear supports the circular economy, meeting rigorous quality and performance standards, and is readily available with no lead times. It’s cost-effective and environmentally friendly, and has a lower carbon impact than purchasing newly manufactured products. Explore available products on the Cisco Refresh list – the more we take back, the more we can offer!

Utilize Cisco Green Pay

Cisco Green Pay, through Cisco Capital, offers a flexible payment plan for solutions designed with sustainability in mind, covering hardware, software, and services with a set contract term. At term’s end, Cisco reclaims the hardware to support the circular economy, helping support a more sustainable lifecycle. Cisco’s ownership guarantees gear return, providing a consistent refresh cycle and benefits akin to the Takeback program. All of this is offered to the customer, requiring minimal effort from partners. Plus, customers receive a 5% discount when opting for Green Pay.

Let’s Get Started Helping the Planet Together!

Ready to begin? First, become specialized under the ESS and enroll in the Takeback Program. Inform your Cisco team of your interest. We have partner sustainability specialists to assist you in integrating sustainability into your sales approach and boosting your confidence in discussing your customers’ sustainability goals. Prepare for these conversations by researching your customers’ public sustainability goals on their websites.

Although we’ve made progress in reaching our sustainability goals, we recognize that much more work needs to be done to ensure that people and ecosystems can thrive together on a livable planet. There’s no time like the present to get started.

For further information, visit our Environmental Sustainability Products and Solutions webpage or consult your Cisco team for specialist guidance.

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France’s Veolia helped turn Master Kong’s waste plastic bottles into recyclable PET pelletsStorage boxes created from PET bottles had a 21% smaller carbon footprint, Alibaba Cloud certified

Master Kong, an instant noodles and beverage giant in China, teamed up with Alibaba Group and French utility Veolia to help shrink its carbon footprint.

The pilot project involved recycling Master Kong’s waste plastic bottles into new products sold on one of Alibaba Group’s grocery platforms. Master Kong is China’s largest instant noodles maker and exclusively makes, distributes and sells PepsiCo soft drinks in China.

As world leaders gather in Dubai to discuss the climate crisis at COP28, the pilot showcased how companies with different skill sets could collaborate to recycle waste at scale.

Master Kong, whose holding company is Hong Kong-listed Tingyi (Cayman Islands), collected waste PET bottles and transported them to a processing plant. PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is a clear and 100% recyclable plastic.

At the plant, water, waste and energy management group Veolia turned the PET bottles into PET pellets, which can easily be made into new products. To complete the circle, the pellets were then used to produce goods for sale on Tmall Supermarket, an Alibaba-owned grocery purchasing platform.

In its latest annual report, Master Kong said had turned the PET pellets into storage boxes and luggage cases with its partners. Twenty thousand recycled PET storage boxes were sold during the project, which ran from August, 2022 to May this year.

The initiative is part of Alibaba and Master Kong’s commitment to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are dumped into the world’s oceans, rivers, and lakes, according to the United Nations.

Alibaba and Master Kong are also founding members of the Global Development Initiative for Sustainable Development Goals, launched by the UN Global Compact in China in 2022.

Certification

Consumers are increasingly using their purchasing power to push brands to show how their supply chains and products are sustainable. An Alibaba survey found that 73% of consumers would welcome more information about making environmentally conscious online purchases.

Master Kong turned to Alibaba Cloud to help it document its recycling initiative. The cloud computing company’s carbon management platform Energy Expert monitored and recorded the carbon emission savings from recycling Master Kong’s PET plastic bottles in 2022.

Energy Expert found that seven waste plastic bottles could be turned into one PET storage box. Each recycled PET storage box has a cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of 1.002kg/unit.

As a result of its recycling process, the carbon footprint of each PET storage box was 21% smaller than if it were made from virgin PET material, as measured by Energy Expert.

Energy Expert leveraged blockchain technology to boost transparency and ensure data was safely processed during the process. It documented information, including real-time production pictures, shipping order numbers and production batch numbers on the blockchain to ensure that data is stored securely and tamper-proof.

Consumers can also find a QR code in each of the recycled PET storage boxes that they can scan to examine carbon emission data spanning the entire production chain, from recycling and transportation of PET bottles to the transportation of finished products to the warehouse.

The 20,000 recycled PET storage boxes sold during the project each had its own label detailing its carbon footprint.

The pilot project is one of several sustainability projects Master Kong is pursuing. The group also released the first standard for carbon footprint accounting and carbon neutralization evaluation standard for tea beverages in China.

View original content here.

Please refer to https://www.alizila.com/esg/ for additional information about Alibaba’s sustainability efforts.