Month: April 2024

Eastman

In a significant achievement for Eastman, Naia™ Renew cellulosic fiber has received the Global Recycled Standard (GRS) certification. This certification validates Naia™ Renew’s certified recycled content, chain of custody, social and environmental practices, and chemical restrictions. The Naia™ team is excited to announce the first production of GRS-certified yarn, which will soon be on its way to a sustainable brand that shares the Naia™ vision of making sustainable textiles accessible to everyone.

“This first production represents years of work by our team,” said Jason Keller, product manager for Naia™. “Our customers have been asking when we’d have GRS certification, and we’ve worked tirelessly to make Naia™ Renew certified. We’re so proud to offer not just a sustainable product but a certification of the fiber that establishes trust with our collaborating brands.”

The importance of GRS certification

The GRS certification process, owned by Textile Exchange, plays a vital role in driving sustainable change in the fashion and textiles industry. It involves an audit of the entire supply chain conducted by independent, third-party certifying body SCS Global Services. GRS certification enhances traceability, promotes environmental principles, ensures social requirements are met, and regulates chemical content and labeling. Eastman’s achievement of GRS certification for Naia™ Renew reinforces the company’s commitment to sustainability and builds trust with customers and collaborators.

Expanding the scope of GRS certification

In June 2023, Textile Exchange made a significant announcement regarding its Alternative Volume Reconciliation (VR2) policy. A policy update broadened the range of chemical recycling technologies eligible for mass balance, including gasification. Gasification is a process used in Eastman’s carbon renewal technology, a molecular recycling technology that breaks waste down into molecular building blocks for use in new materials. By including gasification in the GRS certification, the textile industry now has a broader approach to making sustainable textiles.

“We championed the broadening of Textile Exchange’s VR2 policy to include molecular recycling because this technology makes our sustainable fibers possible,” said Lacey Johnson, Eastman manufacturing technologist. “At Eastman, we’re constantly looking for ways to collaborate for innovation. Our work with Textile Exchange has brought a necessary, future-forward change to GRS certification.”

The power of collaboration

Collaboration is key to Eastman’s success. The company actively engages with global industry leaders and associations to shape the future of sustainable textiles. Eastman’s collaboration with Textile Exchange and other stakeholders played a crucial role in educating the industry about the value and contribution of molecular recycling. The decision to expand the scope of VR2 to include gasification is a significant win for Naia™ and the future of textile sustainability.

But collaboration doesn’t stop there. The true power lies in the adoption of certified materials by brands and retailers. When sustainable brands embrace certified fibers like Naia™ Renew, they send a powerful message to consumers: sustainability matters. By incorporating these materials into their product lines, brands not only contribute to a greener future but also inspire others to follow suit.

Addressing the challenge of textile waste

The textiles industry has been increasingly focused on circular materials as a solution to combat waste pollution, particularly textile waste. Eastman’s molecular recycling complements mechanical recycling and offers a solution for hard-to-recycle waste materials, including textiles affected by factors like fiber blends, chemicals and additives. Naia™ Renew, produced from 60% sustainably sourced wood pulp and 40% GRS-certified waste materials, showcases Eastman’s commitment to transforming waste destined for landfills into valuable resources.

With Naia™ Renew, we pave the way for a more sustainable future for fashion and textiles.

Originally published in Qualcomm’s 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report

We are an invention company that solves fundamental technology problems at the heart of everyday life.

Our inventions have helped power the adoption of smartphones, connecting billions of people to each other and the internet. We make our connected world — and future — possible by pushing the boundaries of AI, VR, connectivity and more.

We are a global leader in the development and commercialization of foundational technologies for the wireless industry. Our technologies and products are used across industries in applications ranging from mobile handsets to automotive to Internet of Things (IoT) and more.

We share our inventions broadly through our licensing program — enabling wide ecosystem access to technologies at the forefront of innovation — and through the sale of our wireless integrated circuit platforms and other products.

We believe in good faith license negotiations and fair value for our patented technologies. We believe this approach to licensing creates efficiency in the ecosystem and reflects the value and innovation that our research, developments and contributions provide. We collaborate across the ecosystem, which includes manufacturers, operators, developers, system integrators, cloud providers, tool vendors, service providers, governments and industry standards organizations, to enable a global environment to drive continued progress and growth.

We inspire the development of regionally relevant use cases of advanced 4G and 5G connectivity, AI at the network edge and IoT through deep-technology incubators and mentorship programs for early-stage startups in many emerging regions, including India, Taiwan, Vietnam and across Africa.

We invest heavily in research and development (R&D), have a long history of driving innovation and have developed foundational technologies that help drive the continued evolution of the wireless industry.

We bring advanced wireless technology to people and communities who need it most, facilitating new business models and unlocking societal benefits that serve the greater good.

The technology development at the foundation of our solutions is governed by our Technical Business Review (TBR) process with oversight by our Chief Technology Officer. The goal of the TBR process is to align long-term technology development with product (application-specific integrated circuit and software) roadmaps. The output of the TBR results is guidance for the development of industry-leading technology roadmaps, which feed into the Company’s one technology roadmap and span processing, connectivity, visual and rendering technologies, AI, security and system-level technologies needed for multiple product categories, industries and applications (e.g., mobile, compute, automotive, connected systems and networking)

2025 Goals

Reduce power consumption by 10 percent every year7 in our flagship Snapdragon Mobile Platform products.

Enrich the lives of 27 million people8 by continuing to bring technology to underserved communities around the world through Wireless Reach, measured against 2006 base year.

Continue to foster the next generation of innovators by inspiring 1.5 million students and teachers across the globe through our STEM initiatives, from a 2020 base year.

7 Given equivalent features. 
8 Defined as direct and indirect beneficiaries.

Learn more about how Qualcomm is driving innovation, societal advancement and sustainability in the 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report

Originally published on U.S. Bank company blog

As a former Division I women’s college soccer player, Leslie DeRoss knows the value of teamwork firsthand.

“I can’t say enough about the lessons you learn from team sports that you can apply to life and your career,” said DeRoss, who today is head of collateralized loan obligation (CLO) strategy and innovation at U.S. Bank. “Every single person on the team has different strengths, so you have to be very strategic in determining who plays what position in order to reach your goals.”

DeRoss’s ability to help bring the right mix of talents to a team has been critical to several of the initiatives she spearheaded that helped enhance the corporate trust client experience at U.S. Bank. Those projects included starting a loan agency operations team to benefit CLO clients, creating the ability to provide immediate wire payments for corporate trust clients in specific scenarios and exploring how blockchain may affect the global corporate trust and custody business and its customers.

“I really enjoy looking at an opportunity and figuring out, how are we going to make this work? How does this fit within our strategy? Who are the people we need to make this happen?” she said.

DeRoss is uniquely positioned to know how to make new ideas work in the CLO space, having spent much of her career in operations management roles that were also client facing, she said.

That gave her the technical expertise along with “the ability to learn firsthand what our clients are seeing and hear directly what their needs are,” she said.

Her ability to assemble a strong team applies more broadly to her approach to her own career. Her go-to advice for people starting on their path: build a robust network, and don’t be afraid to tell your manager what your goals are.

“I’ve been really fortunate in my time at the bank to have had several female mentors,” she said. “I can’t say enough how important it is to create and maintain a strong network, particularly of other women, depending on the industry you are in.”

The CLO world tends to be male dominated, DeRoss said, and she’s cultivated a strong network of women — including colleagues, competitors and clients — to help guide her career. They meet periodically in person to share advice and support.

DeRoss said she’s always built her network inside and outside of the bank in other ways. In 2022, she completed a McKinsey & Company executive leadership program, and early in her career at U.S. Bank was selected for the prestigious U.S. Bank Dynamic Dozen.

The reverse mentoring program, established by former CEO Richard Davis, was created to elevate the voice of younger employees and help the bank connect with the next generation of employees and consumers.

Although DeRoss attended the University of North Carolina-Charlotte on a full-ride soccer scholarship, she said soccer success didn’t come easy to her.

“There was a lot of hard work and adversity along the way,” said DeRoss, who was recruited as an outside midfielder but was versatile enough to play every position except goalkeeper because, she joked, she wasn’t “acrobatic” enough. “I developed a work ethic that I keep until this day – I’m not afraid to dig in and really get into the weeds.”

DeRoss’ soccer playing days may be mostly behind her, but she’s happy to oblige if either of her two young daughters ever shows an interest in following in her footsteps.

“My knees prevent me from playing anymore,” she said. “But if either of my daughters decides they want to play, I could see some coaching in my future.”

Originally published on Tork News Center

Tork, an Essity brand and global leader in professional hygiene, recently launched its commitment to advancing hygiene inclusivity in public restrooms by ensuring all individuals are able to pursue proper hygiene in these settings.

To bring awareness to one aspect of the issue, the brand is spotlighting stories of Americans who face barriers to washing their hands in public restrooms, showing how this negatively impacts the hygiene and well-being of individuals.

New research shows that:

Almost 1 in 3 Americans face barriers to washing their hands in public restrooms.*Around 1 in 5 Americans experience difficulties using soap or hand towel dispensers due to an injury, health condition, physical capability or as a parent with a child.*1 in 7 Americans cited loud noises as a source of difficulty, either personally or when assisting a child using public restrooms.*More than 1 in 3 Americans cite lack of cleanliness as a barrier to using workplace or public restrooms.*

Tork is sharing the real experiences of those experiencing barriers to hand hygiene, using the brand’s paper towel as a medium through its “paper towel plea.” Unique, printed Tork paper towels feature hand-written notes from individuals who face barriers related to age, neurodiversity, skin sensitivities and hygiene-related concerns. The towels will be installed in select restrooms at business and industry conferences to educate leaders where they are most captive to the message: the busy restroom.

“Many people around the world experience barriers, discomfort, or anxiety when they try to properly wash and dry their hands in a public or workplace restroom,” said Ron Clemmer, Secretariat Director of the Global Handwashing Partnership. “We know that hand washing is critical for reducing the spread of disease and having the integrity of good hygiene, but it isn’t easily accessible for everyone. We applaud Tork for leading the charge on this important initiative and continuing to push for attention and improvement of the accessibility of hand washing in public and workplace restrooms. Through these efforts, they are paving the way to make it easier for everyone to be able to wash their hands properly in public and workplace settings.” 

“We’re spotlighting these hand hygiene barriers because they can lead to restroom avoidance and can go largely unobserved,” said Amie Kromis, DEI director, Essity North America. “Our ultimate ambition is to explore – and solve for – the ways that the restroom experience could be improved for everyone. Not only is this important for the individual’s ability to use the restroom and wash their hands, but a negative experience in the restroom can impact a businesses’ revenue, as well.”

More than 60% of people have a lesser opinion of businesses or venues that provide hand hygiene facilities that are challenging to use.** Almost one-third of guests at high-traffic venues (such as sport stadiums) who avoid going to the restroom (in high-traffic venue) limit how much they eat and drink to do so.***

Tork announced its goal to advance hygiene inclusivity in the restroom recently at Reuters Responsible Business USA where the brand joined leaders from around the world to explore how organizations can improve the environmental and societal sustainability of their operations and solutions.

Demonstrating its commitment to enacting and driving change, Tork is starting the journey to engage business leaders and change agents in a range of capacities – from research, training to concepting and development – to create more inclusive restroom designs and facilities. Businesses can visit a new Tork website that features videos of those impacted by these invisible barriers alongside practical steps for businesses to make their restroom more inclusive.

To learn more about barriers to hand hygiene and to join Tork on the journey to a more inclusive restroom, please visit: Tork paper towel plea

References

*Survey among nationally representative group, barriers faced personally or in assisting others, 2024 

**Market research survey conducted in North America and Europe with offices, 2022

***Market research survey conducted in North America and Europe with visitors of high-traffic venues

For more information, please contact:

FHTork@fleishman.com

Gen remains committed to an impactful environmental strategy that syncs with its business objectives, supports actions to reduce GHG emissions, engages employees and inspires others to act. As part of that commitment, Gen partners with Planet Water Foundation to deliver clean, safe drinking water to rural communities in India. Watch this year’s AquaTower come to life at Panchayat Union Middle School. The new water filtration system can produce 1,000 liters of clean drinking water per hour and doubles as a handwashing station for more than 300 students, as well as people in the nearby village of Gummipoondi, which has a population of more than 2,000 people. Learn more about how Gen is committed to environmental action: https://www.gendigital.com/us/en/social-impact/environment/