Tag: 3BL

SWORDS, Ireland, September 27, 2023 /3BL/ – Trane® – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator, is introducing its latest Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cloud-based service offering – Trane® Autonomous Control Powered by BrainBox AI® – providing building owners and facility managers an additional tool to accelerate decarbonization and reduce energy consumption.

Using AI to automatically identify and implement optimization actions 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Trane Autonomous Control enhances existing connected Tracer® SC+ building control systems– incorporating variables like predictive weather data and occupancy trends for improved building performance and sustainability.

“With the heating and cooling of buildings representing about 15% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, the demand for more sustainable building solutions grows each day,” said Donny Simmons, president, Commercial HVAC Americas, Trane Technologies. “Leveraging innovative AI-enabled solutions is one of many ways we are helping customers dramatically reduce their carbon footprints, while meeting business goals and doing the right thing for the planet.”

For large, multi-site retailers, Trane Autonomous Control offers a compelling and proven use case. For more than a year, Trane rigorously tested the Autonomous Control solution in multiple sites with an industry-leading customer in the collection and processing of life-saving biological material in the United States. Resulting in significant energy performance improvements, the program also cut carbon emissions by more than 30% across a national portfolio of more than 100 facilities – directly contributing to the customer’s aggressive greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals.

Trane Autonomous Control expands the company’s industry-leading, digitally connected building technology and insights, including through its network of more than one million connected devices. The launch also builds on the company’s collaboration with BrainBox AI to provide customers additional ways to reduce GHG emissions while maintaining comfortable, productive spaces.

The offering directly supports Trane Technologies’ 2030 Sustainability Commitments, including the Gigaton Challenge – a pledge to reduce customers’ GHG emissions by 1 billion metric tons (or, one gigaton) – and its pledge to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. The company’s emissions reductions targets have been externally validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi).

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About Trane Technologies 
Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator. Through our strategic brands Trane® and Thermo King®, and our portfolio of environmentally responsible products and services, we bring efficient and sustainable climate solutions to buildings, homes, and transportation. Learn more at tranetechologies.com.

About Trane 
Trane – by Trane Technologies (NYSE: TT), a global climate innovator – creates comfortable, energy-efficient indoor environments for commercial and residential applications. For more information, please visit www.trane.com.

Forward Looking Statements 
This news release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of securities laws, which are statements that are not historical facts, including statements that relate to innovations to develop decarbonization solutions, and our sustainability commitments and the impact of these commitments. These forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and are subject to risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause such differences can be found in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, as well as our subsequent reports on Form 10-Q and other SEC filings. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict these events or how they may affect the Company. We assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements.

At Boston Scientific, we strive to advance science for life, which includes inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals who will help shape the future of health care. Using a combination of hands-on experiences and classroom education, our employee STEM councils helped more than 70,000 young people explore careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math in 2022.

Hear from three employees whose devotion to STEM education and helping others discover their fullest potential is making a difference around the globe.

An investment in the future

Marcelo Gonzalez has always wanted to know how things work. While this curiosity eventually led to a rewarding career, Marcelo didn’t always know how to channel it. “It was my fourth birthday and I’d gotten a pedal go-kart. I wanted to know what made it move, so I followed the chain underneath with my finger and — let’s just say it didn’t end well,” says Marcelo, chuckling. Thankfully, his dad rushed him to the hospital and saved his finger, though he still has the scar today.

Influenced by his older cousins who were engineers, Marcelo pursued an industrial engineering degree and today, he’s a senior quality manager and an active member of his local STEM council in Argentina. His team helps students hear career advice firsthand from Boston Scientific employees and engages them in interactive activities — like seeing what a doctor sees when a stent is placed — using augmented reality and other technologies.

For Marcelo, the most rewarding part is working with a passionate and dedicated team to help kids connect their curiosity with the potential to create meaningful innovation. “To me, investing in these kids is investing in the future,” he says. “I’m not going to change the planet much more — but they will.”

Stoking the passion early

Like Marcelo, Ronan Emmett, a talent development manager based in Cork, Ireland, enjoyed taking his toys apart as a child. Ronan’s penchant for questioning the world around him led him to pursue a career in information technology before transitioning to teaching, and then human resources and talent development.

In 2016, Ronan was part of a team that helped develop the GROW program, a chance for college-level engineering, science and biotechnology students and BSC product builders to spend a summer gaining hands-on experience working on a real production line while receiving mentoring and formal education. Employees and the college students learn together and from one another in this program. Since its establishment in Cork, GROW has expanded to become a global development program for product builders and technicians at the company.

GROW’s success was the catalyst for the TeenGROW program, geared toward young people aged 15–17. Though originally developed for employees’ children, TeenGROW has expanded to include children from underrepresented areas in the community through partnerships with local schools. The program introduces students to robotics, involves them in experiments that apply the scientific method, and allows them to hear from engineers about their career experiences.

“The purpose of TeenGROW is to stoke that passion for STEM early,” says Ronan. “Being at the company for nine years, I’ve seen kids go from TeenGROW in the classroom, to GROW gaining real-world experience on our production lines, to becoming a qualified engineer with us,” Ronan says. “It’s inspiring to see, and it’s truly a privilege to be part of such an incredible team that is so invested.”

Helping students see real-world applications 

Years before she became an R&D engineer at Boston Scientific, Tess Davis was motivated to pursue a science degree in high school. “I had a teacher — a woman — who had degrees in both biomedical and mechanical engineering. I thought that was so cool,” says Tess. “I knew then that I wanted to pursue the same path, and through a program called Project Lead the Way, I was able to gain first-hand experience in the engineering field.”

Today, she’s the co-lead of the STEM Council in Marlborough, Massachusetts, which brings educational experiences to kids at local schools and organizations like the Boys & Girls Club. A student favorite is Procedure Pal, an interactive table-top product model. “We show them how an esophageal stent is placed in the body, or how a deep brain stimulation device interrupts brain signals in patients with Parkinson’s disease,” says Tess. “It helps students see how these technologies are actually used to help people.”

Tess and the team hold multiple events each year, like the recent panel discussion with members of the Society of Women Engineers, who talked about their paths to becoming STEM professionals. “It’s important to see representation of women in the field,” says Tess, recalling the indelible mark her high school teacher had on her professional journey. “Kids don’t always have those role models. I’ve heard many of our volunteers say, ‘I didn’t have these opportunities growing up. I want them to know what’s possible.’”

Learn more about the ways Boston Scientific supports STEM education in communities around the world. 

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Finding the cause of a rare disease is often like looking for a needle in a haystack. More than 80 percent of rare diseases are genetic in origin[i], and dedicated medical researchers can spend their careers looking for just one tiny defect in one gene that could explain hugely complex conditions.

The World Health Organization tells us that between one and two percent of children are born with this kind of rare disease, but more than 90 percent of such conditions have no approved therapy[ii]—despite huge and ongoing advancements in medicine and the technology that supports it.

The research is not easy. A disease is considered rare if less than 1 in 2,000 people are affected[iii]. There is, naturally, little literature available. And, although they collectively affect millions of people worldwide, these kinds of diseases rarely get public attention and consequently suffer from a lack of funding. That inevitably slows down the research process and hinders the development of potential new treatments.

Of course, finding that all-important needle and making thousands of lives better is much easier when significant computational power is directed towards the search. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already changing the timescales involved in medical research, and its potential is hugely important for understanding, preventing and treating all kinds of medical conditions.

So, when Germany’s Care-For-Rare Foundation, a non-profit committed to the rapid diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases in children, received a decommissioned server from the University Hospital in Munich as a donation, its team was delighted. It had a real chance to create an innovative project that would bring the power of AI to its own work.

There was only one problem. The University Hospital IT team would manage the server, but only if it the foundation would provide a VMware license key as this is the virtualization technology they are using in the hospital. As a non-profit, Care-for-Rare had limited resources to spend, which meant that the cost of licensing the necessary software threatened to halt valuable progress.

That was when the foundation contacted VMware’s Healthcare and Life Sciences EMEA team. The value and importance of the work that the foundation does was clear, so the team stepped in to ensure Care-For-Rare had access to the vSphere licenses needed. Organizations like Care-for-Rare already have enough challenges. Technology shouldn’t be one of them—especially when it comes to helping sick children and their families.

It was exactly the kind of program that the VMware Academic Software Licensing Program is designed to support—the use of virtualization applications in teaching and research for non-profit projects. Through this program, part of VMware IT Academy, we can provide desktop or infrastructure software to be used in a number of ways, including in certain research projects, at no cost to end users. It also comes under one of the equity goals of the VMware 2030 Agenda, a program for building a more sustainable, equitable and secure future. This includes our commitment to co-innovation with non-profits.

Once the VMware solution was in place, Care-for-Rare’s researchers could start constructing an AI platform and open channels of communication between doctors and scientists around the world to enhance the diagnosis of rare diseases and foster the development of new treatments.

One example of Care-for-Rare’s use of AI is the Scivias project at the Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital in Munich. Doctors use an eye scanner to capture an image of the back of the eyes of young volunteer patients. Then thousands of images and data sets are examined by an AI algorithm to find patterns in the eye that could give conclusions about different diseases, an impossible task for humans.

At VMware, we believe that technology is a force for good and the work at the Children’s hospital is a great example of what AI can potentially achieve. This will pave the way for clinical studies aimed at preventing severe, complex and rare diseases, and we’re delighted to have played a small part in making it happen.

Find out more here.

[i] https://health.ec.europa.eu/non-communicable-diseases/expert-group-public-health/rare-diseases_en#:~:text=There%20are%20more%20than%206000,70%25%20already%20start%20in%20childhood.

[ii] https://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/company/vnware-enabling-medical-research-into-rare-childhood-diseases.pdf

[iii] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-rare-diseases-framework/the-uk-rare-diseases-framework#:~:text=A%20rare%20disease%20is%20defined,being%20identified%20as%20research%20advances.

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ATLANTA, September 27, 2023 /3BL/ – In June, Georgia-Pacific announced it produced its 1 billionth EarthKraft™ recyclable padded mailer at our facility in Tolleson, Arizona. This was a monumental achievement just three short years after the product was introduced.

Georgia-Pacific recently announced it has expanded its EarthKraft™ line of curbside recyclable mailers to include an unpadded version. The new unpadded mailer for e-commerce shipments is designed to ship apparel and other items that do not need padded packaging during transport. Amazon is a key GP EarthKraft™ customer and has been using the new mailer since July. EarthKraft™ unpadded mailers are produced at GP’s facilities in Jonestown, Pennsylvania, McDonough, Georgia, and suburban Phoenix, Arizona. Printing options for the mailers include up to six colors utilizing flexo or digital print, and are available in two sizes with external, flap-closed dimensions ranging from 12 by 15 inches to 14 by 18 inches.

The unpadded mailers, much like the recyclable padded mailers, offer protection in a lightweight and flexible design, which can reduce freight costs. The mailers are also designed to be easy to pack, which can improve warehouse efficiency.

“An ever-growing percentage of consumers expect their online purchases to arrive in sustainable, easy-to-recycle packaging,” said Adam Ganz, vice president of eCommerce Packaging. “The plastic mailers that have been the standard shipping option for apparel aren’t meeting the majority of consumer expectations, and brands are missing an opportunity to build loyal, repeat customers. GP’s EarthKraft™ unpadded mailer gives apparel brands and other e-commerce companies a cost-effective option to meet those expectations.”

The EarthKraft padded and unpadded mailers have been issued a Widely Recyclable label by the How2Recycle® program. This allows the mailers to be deposited in any paper or corrugated recycling collection point, which for most consumers is their curbside recycling bin.

Click here to learn more about Georgia-Pacific’s Packaging business.

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Decarbonization is the process of removing greenhouse gas emissions from products. It is driving regulations, discussions around climate change, and sustainability commitments of companies and countries around the globe.

For many in the transport industry, decarbonization is a lofty goal with many challenges. Topping the list is the massive number of fossil fuel-based trucks, trailers, railcars and shipping containers that are relied upon daily to deliver goods throughout the world. While transitioning to more sustainable operations is a key to decarbonization, the disruption will affect the entire industry.

Navigating this disruption is especially complicated in the refrigerated sector. The global cold chain has depended on reliable and accurate refrigerated transportation of food, medicines and perishables for sustenance, health and economic growth since 1938. And that will not change, which is why the transition to decarbonized fleets must be done thoughtfully and with proven innovations.

As a leader in the industry, Thermo King has embraced the challenge to reduce the impact our products have on the environment and create sustainable innovations. This supports our bold 2030 Sustainability Commitments and 2050 Net-Zero carbon target while also helping our customers in their sustainability journeys.

Dedicated to providing innovative solutions

Founded on the premise of delivering fresh goods to communities that need them, we continually evolve to meet – and even exceed – customer and industry requirements.

We understand that moving to a decarbonized world will not happen overnight. It is a process that requires selecting and developing the right emerging technologies, partnership with like-minded companies and customers, and responsible integration that ensures infrastructure support and viability. This is a transition we’ve been leading for many years, working to make products that run more efficiently; burn less fuel or run with alternative fuels; utilize lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant; and more.

These actions have already made a difference and are helping bridge the path to decarbonization without sacrificing the performance of a customer’s fleet. For example, our truck and trailer units now come standard with lower GWP R-452A refrigerant. This will reduce the carbon footprint of our customers’ long-haul, middle-mile and last-mile delivery fleets by nearly 50% or approximately 650,000 metric tons of CO2e annually – equivalent to the emissions of 143,000 passenger vehicles per year.

Another example is the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fossil-free fuel as a sustainable alternative to diesel fuel. HVO offers a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and more than 30% in particulate matter while maintaining optimal product performance.

The path to decarbonization

Electrification, primarily the use of battery technology that is electrically charged, is one strategic step Thermo King has taken to lead the way in decarbonizing the cold chain. It is important to note that the two are not synonymous; however, electrification is a good fit for the transportation industry due to its technological maturity. In fact, the automobile industry has been utilizing electrification for more than 15 years. We are working to ensure that the technology meets the cargo temperature requirements within transport refrigeration. And customer trials and data integration are key to verifying this.

We are building a strong base of electrified offerings throughout our product portfolio, and we continue to invest in an electrified future. Strong partnerships with customers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Walmart, Morgan Truck Body, Loblaws, Martin Brower, Navistar, Daimler Truck North America, Lion Electric, and more are contributing to our success.

Our most recent innovation is the e1000, the first large-capacity electric transport refrigeration unit (TRU) without a diesel engine offered in North America. It meets regulations for zero emissions, including California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) TRU 2023 Standard. With no mechanical components to maintain and no diesel fuel costs to budget, the unit helps companies reduce waste and emissions, and minimize total cost of ownership. And it is already winning awards, confirming our impact on the industry, our customers, and the planet.

Research, technology trials, and development of the correct infrastructure is vital to ongoing success with electrification in our industry. A 53-foot trailer electric refrigeration unit traveling from California to Chicago has different challenges and requirements than an all-electric refrigerated van making inner-city deliveries. We understand this and are navigating the process systematically and collaboratively to ensure each step taken with electrification of products is with care, quality, reliability, and service in mind.

One example is real-world testing of our battery-electric trailer with customer partners who have equally ambitious sustainability goals. And we’ve had great results and feedback from those customers, including Walmart.

“With thousands of refrigerated trailers using diesel fuel today, we have the ability to make a meaningful difference when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Fernando Cortes, senior vice president of transportation, Walmart U.S.

Optimizing for performance

Also helping support the adoption of electrified solutions is data integration. Data is increasingly important to customers for effective fleet management, unit performance and energy efficiency. Thermo King relies on this information to test and optimize emerging technologies for product development. Data also helps customers optimize operations, which enables investments in more sustainable technologies, and will continue to play a key role in decarbonization efforts.

With this kind of approach, we are bringing more electrified products to market over the next 6-12 months – many with data integration as standard, that will grow electrification capability while meeting customer needs for enhanced visibility into fleet operations.

But we cannot stop with electrification. Fuel cell technology is important also, specifically for medium and heavy-duty trucks and tractors. We are successfully utilizing battery-power in some of our units, and we also have hybrid unit options and solar panel products that charge cells and contribute to emission reductions.

To be clear, the path to decarbonization is not a one-size-fits-all journey. We are navigating the way with an evolving portfolio of products that meet customer and industry needs where they are today and preparing them for the future. The journey will not happen overnight, but we know that a decarbonized cold chain is vital to our industry and future generations. Most importantly, it will leave our world in a better, more sustainable place.

Decarbonization is the process of removing greenhouse gas emissions from products. It is driving regulations, discussions around climate change, and sustainability commitments of companies and countries around the globe.

For many in the transport industry, decarbonization is a lofty goal with many challenges. Topping the list is the massive number of fossil fuel-based trucks, trailers, railcars and shipping containers that are relied upon daily to deliver goods throughout the world. While transitioning to more sustainable operations is a key to decarbonization, the disruption will affect the entire industry.

Navigating this disruption is especially complicated in the refrigerated sector. The global cold chain has depended on reliable and accurate refrigerated transportation of food, medicines and perishables for sustenance, health and economic growth since 1938. And that will not change, which is why the transition to decarbonized fleets must be done thoughtfully and with proven innovations.

As a leader in the industry, Thermo King has embraced the challenge to reduce the impact our products have on the environment and create sustainable innovations. This supports our bold 2030 Sustainability Commitments and 2050 Net-Zero carbon target while also helping our customers in their sustainability journeys.

Dedicated to providing innovative solutions

Founded on the premise of delivering fresh goods to communities that need them, we continually evolve to meet – and even exceed – customer and industry requirements.

We understand that moving to a decarbonized world will not happen overnight. It is a process that requires selecting and developing the right emerging technologies, partnership with like-minded companies and customers, and responsible integration that ensures infrastructure support and viability. This is a transition we’ve been leading for many years, working to make products that run more efficiently; burn less fuel or run with alternative fuels; utilize lower global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant; and more.

These actions have already made a difference and are helping bridge the path to decarbonization without sacrificing the performance of a customer’s fleet. For example, our truck and trailer units now come standard with lower GWP R-452A refrigerant. This will reduce the carbon footprint of our customers’ long-haul, middle-mile and last-mile delivery fleets by nearly 50% or approximately 650,000 metric tons of CO2e annually – equivalent to the emissions of 143,000 passenger vehicles per year.

Another example is the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) fossil-free fuel as a sustainable alternative to diesel fuel. HVO offers a 90% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and more than 30% in particulate matter while maintaining optimal product performance.

The path to decarbonization

Electrification, primarily the use of battery technology that is electrically charged, is one strategic step Thermo King has taken to lead the way in decarbonizing the cold chain. It is important to note that the two are not synonymous; however, electrification is a good fit for the transportation industry due to its technological maturity. In fact, the automobile industry has been utilizing electrification for more than 15 years. We are working to ensure that the technology meets the cargo temperature requirements within transport refrigeration. And customer trials and data integration are key to verifying this.

We are building a strong base of electrified offerings throughout our product portfolio, and we continue to invest in an electrified future. Strong partnerships with customers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as Walmart, Morgan Truck Body, Loblaws, Martin Brower, Navistar, Daimler Truck North America, Lion Electric, and more are contributing to our success.

Our most recent innovation is the e1000, the first large-capacity electric transport refrigeration unit (TRU) without a diesel engine offered in North America. It meets regulations for zero emissions, including California Air Resources Board’s (CARB) TRU 2023 Standard. With no mechanical components to maintain and no diesel fuel costs to budget, the unit helps companies reduce waste and emissions, and minimize total cost of ownership. And it is already winning awards, confirming our impact on the industry, our customers, and the planet.

Research, technology trials, and development of the correct infrastructure is vital to ongoing success with electrification in our industry. A 53-foot trailer electric refrigeration unit traveling from California to Chicago has different challenges and requirements than an all-electric refrigerated van making inner-city deliveries. We understand this and are navigating the process systematically and collaboratively to ensure each step taken with electrification of products is with care, quality, reliability, and service in mind.

One example is real-world testing of our battery-electric trailer with customer partners who have equally ambitious sustainability goals. And we’ve had great results and feedback from those customers, including Walmart.

“With thousands of refrigerated trailers using diesel fuel today, we have the ability to make a meaningful difference when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” said Fernando Cortes, senior vice president of transportation, Walmart U.S.

Optimizing for performance

Also helping support the adoption of electrified solutions is data integration. Data is increasingly important to customers for effective fleet management, unit performance and energy efficiency. Thermo King relies on this information to test and optimize emerging technologies for product development. Data also helps customers optimize operations, which enables investments in more sustainable technologies, and will continue to play a key role in decarbonization efforts.

With this kind of approach, we are bringing more electrified products to market over the next 6-12 months – many with data integration as standard, that will grow electrification capability while meeting customer needs for enhanced visibility into fleet operations.

But we cannot stop with electrification. Fuel cell technology is important also, specifically for medium and heavy-duty trucks and tractors. We are successfully utilizing battery-power in some of our units, and we also have hybrid unit options and solar panel products that charge cells and contribute to emission reductions.

To be clear, the path to decarbonization is not a one-size-fits-all journey. We are navigating the way with an evolving portfolio of products that meet customer and industry needs where they are today and preparing them for the future. The journey will not happen overnight, but we know that a decarbonized cold chain is vital to our industry and future generations. Most importantly, it will leave our world in a better, more sustainable place.

BOSTON, September 26, 2023 /3BL/ – Today, the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) has shared in full the first of three reports from the Higg Index Review. This first report fulfills a commitment made last year by the SAC to engage industry experts on a technical review of the Higg Product Tools, based on content and methodology, with the resulting data delivered in an open and transparent way. Available for download here, the report sets out detailed recommendations for how the Product Tools can continue to develop and answer the evolving requirements of users.

Through the continuous evolution of the Higg Index tools, the aim is to provide users with access to the most up-to-date, accurate data against relevant industry standards in order to drive sustainable decision-making across the industry. For this review, KPMG was commissioned to coordinate and recruit a panel of ten experts. The report focuses on the following tools:

The Higg Materials Sustainability Index (Higg MSI) is the apparel industry’s most used tool to measure the environmental impacts of materials. It is a cradle-to-gate material assessment tool used by designers to help them make more informed and responsible choices around materials. 
 The Higg Product Module (PM) was launched in June 2021 to help organizations evaluate the full environmental impact of a product. It measures the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of a product from the point of resource extraction to manufacturing impacts, all the way through product durability, care, and end of use. With a complete picture of a product’s footprint, designers and sustainability teams can find new opportunities to reduce impact – and accurately demonstrate improvement to stakeholders, and business partners.

“Science isn’t static — and neither are we,” said Jeremy Lardeau, VP of the SAC Higg Index. “The SAC is committed to the continued enhancement of the Higg Index tools, to better support the industry to achieve its sustainability goals. Through ongoing updates, our tools become more and more powerful to drive greater impact across the value chain.”

Reflecting the diverse and complicated nature of product sustainability assessments, the reviewers were not unanimous in their findings. While the report highlights that the Higg MSI and Higg PM tools demonstrate strengths, more important to the SAC is how this critical analysis reveals where additional improvements are necessary.

“The SAC Board of Directors thanks each expert involved in the review for providing their insights and direction to the SAC,” said the SAC’s Board of Directors in a collective statement. “This review highlights the complexity of product sustainability assessments, which cover collecting, measuring, and appropriately utilizing sustainability impact data originating at the early stages of global supply chains for business decisions. Moreover, the often diverging expert viewpoints shared in the report reinforce the need for robust collaboration toward delivering a harmonized approach to value chain sustainability data. We commend the SAC for conducting this expert review and commit to empowering the SAC to integrate appropriate recommendations into the SAC’s strategic plan, while inviting interested stakeholders to join this effort.”

In some cases, the recommendations for action found in the report are already underway, including:

expanding the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) to add factory-specific data and improve geographical coverage in order to directly inform LCA data within the Product Tools;actively working to improve data quality of the background datasets, specifically in cotton fiber and textile wet processing;exploring the best way to fold the Higg MSI into the Higg PM, so that the material life cycle data is viewed as part of full product LCAs; andaligning with the EU Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) – an evolving LCA methodology, that aims to create a harmonized common framework for calculating and communicating impact — once it is finalized and, if applicable, with other common standardized methods in the future.

In other cases, recommendations for improvement will be incorporated during the next phase of tool development by the SAC, including, for example, adding signals and warnings on front-end content within the platform, as well as offering more training sessions and educational opportunities to help users correctly and more effectively use the tools.

Finally, taking action on some of the expert recommendations will require a deeper process of stakeholder engagement and research in order to confirm both applicability and feasibility. For example, the SAC is closely monitoring the progress made in ways to assess the full impacts of marine litter and microplastics in LCA data.

Ultimately, the ongoing evolution of the tools means the SAC will continue to assess the experts’ recommendations over the coming months and how best to implement them in the tools’ development roadmap.

“At Eastman Exports, we’ve seamlessly integrated the Higg Materials Sustainability Index (MSI) and the Higg Product Module (PM) into our core sustainability strategy,” said Alagesan Senniappan, Senior Vice President, Quality Assurance/ESG. “The Higg MSI has empowered us with a profound grasp of our materials’ environmental impact, facilitating data-driven decisions and the adoption of sustainable alternatives. The Higg PM has been transformative in evaluating our product life cycles, pinpointing critical areas for reducing our environmental footprint – from raw material sourcing to end-of-life considerations. Our unwavering commitment is to continue this sustainability journey with the invaluable support of these indispensable tools.”

The remaining Higg Index Review reports for the Higg Brand and Retail Module (BRM) and the Higg Facility Environmental Module (FEM) are expected in 2024. The Higg BRM was recently updated in March 2023, and the Higg FEM tool will be updated in November 2023. Based on the timing of these updates, the Higg Product Tools were reviewed first. The remaining Higg Index Review reports will be shared in full by the SAC once they have been finalized by the review panels.

— ENDS —

For more information please contact SAC@forster.co.uk

About the Sustainable Apparel Coalition:

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC) is an independent and impact-creating organization that aims to lead the industry toward a shared vision of sustainability based upon a joint approach for measuring, evaluating, and improving performance.

As a non-profit organization, it has members from across the apparel, footwear and textile sector, but exists independently outside any one company so that it can drive progress. The SAC’s collective action efforts bring more than 280 global brands, retailers, manufacturers, NGOs, academics and industry associations together. They represent about half of the apparel and footwear industry along the whole supply chain – from sustainability pioneers to organizations just getting started.

Before the SAC existed, companies worked in a siloed way, using their own programs and measurements that lacked standardization and an ability to drive collective action. In 2009, Walmart and Patagonia identified this as a serious problem. Joining forces, they brought together peers, competitors, and relevant stakeholders from across the sector to, on a pre-competitive basis, develop a universal approach to measuring sustainability performance and founded the Sustainable Apparel Coalition.

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About the Higg Index:

The Higg Index is an SAC-owned suite of data driven tools for brands, retailers and manufacturers to measure sustainability performance in the apparel, footwear and textile industry. Owned by the SAC, the tools are exclusively licensed to Worldly. For more information, visit worldly.io/. The Higg Index comprises a set of five independent tools that make it possible to measure the environmental and social impacts of how, where, and under what conditions products are made, as well as the companies making them.The tools provide a standard process for assessment that can then be used for benchmarking, allowing users to leverage verified data to track, manage and improve their performance. The tools also offer those just beginning their efforts a structured place to start which can make the process of data collection and strategy development less overwhelming.

About the tools reviewed in the report:

The Higg MSI is a cradle-to-gate material assessment tool that calculates environmental impacts of materials used in the textile, apparel & footwear industry such as ready-to-be-assembled textiles, trims, and packaging featured in products. The tool aims to enable design and development teams to identify hotspots and make more sustainable choices during the materials selection process. The Higg MSI uses peer-reviewed data submitted from the industry and life cycle assessment databases to calculate environmental impacts. The tool measures environmental impact in five areas: global warming, nutrient pollution in water (eutrophication), water scarcity, abiotic resource depletion of fossil fuels, and chemistry. Higg MSI results are provided individually for each impact category and are displayed into two formats: LCIA units and Higg MSI score. The LCIA units represent the environmental impact for the specific impact category (e.g. kg CO₂e with regards to global warming potential). The Higg MSI score, in turn, is based on a linear normalization set upon the weighted average impact of the most used materials within the industry.

The Higg PM, assesses the cradle-to-grave environmental impacts of products made by the textile, apparel & footwear industry. This assessment includes the impacts of the specific materials used in a product, the impacts from finished goods’ manufacturing processes, as well as the impacts of logistics (transportation and distribution), use phase, and end of life. The Higg PM integrates Higg MSI outputs to provide a full life cycle assessment. The Higg PM shares the same five impact categories as the Higg MSI. Higg PM results are provided individually for each impact category and are displayed in terms of LCIA units. The Higg PM aims to help companies understand the environmental performance of their products’ portfolio and enable progress on circularity goals.

Oportun is committed to positively impacting the communities in which we live and serve. Last month, along with more than 300 of our colleagues around the world, we again put words into action through our annual Oportun Volunteer Week. For the 5th year running, we committed a theme of “Greener Together” wherein most of our projects were focused on promoting sustainability, ecological health, and environmental stewardship through volunteerism.

Across the United States, India, and Mexico, we participated in more than 25 virtual and in-person projects that positively impacted thousands of lives globally. We are also grateful to our partner HandsOn Bay Area for helping us bridge to service projects in our own communities.

We appreciate the work everyone has done on this journey to solve the most pressing challenges in our communities, environmental or otherwise, and to pave a better path for this and our future generations.

Mondelēz 2022 Snacking Made Right Report

Water

We depend on water to make our much-loved snacks and aim to use this precious natural resource responsibly. To this end, we aim to reduce our water use as much as possible and support initiatives throughout the value chain to conserve water.

Our Goal Progress: 14% Reduction

In 2022, we achieved an approximately 14% reduction in water usage at priority sites in areas where water is most scarce. Our goal is to reduce absolute water usage in priority sites by 10% by 2025 (vs. 2018).1

Working Together at a Local Level

Responsible water use cannot be tackled at a remote, global level – it involves collective action on the ground, locally. So we are focusing on local and regional stakeholder engagements and community collaborations to broaden impact.

Reducing our Water Use

Around the world, water is increasingly under pressure due to global population growth, industrialization, and climate change, and we are focusing on playing our part in looking after this precious resource by seeking to reduce water use as muchm as possible.

In 2021, we updated our list of priority sites using the Aqueduct tool from World Resources Institute and changed our water scarcity threshold. This led to an increased number of priority sites: from 27 during the 2013-2020 cycle to 48 during the current 2018-2025 cycle.

In 2022, we reduced our absolute water use at priority sites by approximately 14% (vs. 2018).

Improving Water Use Across Europe

In Europe, we have made a number of improvements in our water use. In Spain, for example, we have enhanced waste-water treatment, to reduce pollutants in the discharge. We have also reduced water consumption through dry cleaning and automatic floor cleaners.

Reusing and Recycling More Water

Our factory in Fallingbostel, northern Germany, has increased its steam boiler condensate return ratio. This enables the factory to save 80,000m3 of water a year, reduce wastewater by 115,000m3, and save 395 metric tonnes of CO2e. Our Besançon factory in Francehas implemented a recycling system, which is saving 6,800m3 of water every year.

Improving Cleaning Processes

Our Caramagna factory in Piedmont, Italy, has improved the Cleaning in Place (CIP) process. The water is recycled and the cleaning program optimized. This saves 35,000m3 of water per year. Our Kaunas factory in Lithuania improved its starch tray cleaning process, reducing water consumption by 3,000m3 a year.

Widening our Water Stewardship

In 2022, as the world’s water stresses continued to increase, we sought to widen our positive impact by looking beyond our own facilities to assess wider water use along the value chain. We want to cover not just the use of water in our operations – for example to make our products and clean equipment – but also its use to irrigate the commodities that are important to our products.

We calculated our water footprint and identified that the majority of the water used in our value chain is in the production of raw materials. So after many years of our successful programs to reduce water consumption in our manufacturing operations,

we are now expanding our approach and integrating our water stewardship methodology to key areas beyond our facilities.

We can then apply these learnings to the development of an end-to-end 2030 water stewardship strategy.

Reducing Water Consumption in Peru

At our factory in Lima, Peru, we have reduced water consumption by 21% against the 2018 baseline by improving the treated water recovery systems. We installed reverse osmosis equipment, which reduces dissolved minerals in the local water. This reduces the amount of water purging required, thereby cutting down on water use.

Saving Water in India

In India, we succeeded in saving approximately 29,000m3 of water in our manufacturing processes (vs. 2018). This was primarily achieved through technological advancement projects to improve water management, including permanent magnet technology, recovering up to 85% of condensation, and numerous other enhancements to reduce, recycle, and reuse water. We also harvested 98,000m3 of rainwater.

Waste

We strive to reduce waste as much as we can, to help the climate and the environment and to increase our operational efficiency. Above all, we focus on food waste – striving to eliminate it.

-25% Food waste reduction in internal manufacturing sites (metric tonnes) (vs. 2018)

-58% Food waste reduction in distribution (metric tonnes) (vs. 2018)

Our Goal Progress: 25% Reduction

In 2022, we reduced food waste in internal manufacturing sites by 25%, exceeding our goal of a 15% reduction by 2025 (vs. 2018).

This early delivery proves our focus on eliminating waste from our sites.

We also reduced food waste from distribution by 58%, exceeding our goal of a 50% reduction by 2025 (vs. 2018).

Striving to Eliminate Waste Once And For All

We see food waste as an opponent to be destroyed – it plays against all our sustainability efforts, adding to business and environmental costs, helping no one.

The initiatives to eliminate waste have to be robust and sustainable. At Mondelēz International, we have a clear governance of waste reduction globally.

We repeat the following steps:

Identify hot spots.Deep dive to sites and focus on top losses in main production lines.Focus on process capability improvement through the improvement of equipment, technology, system, people, and material.

Across the globe, our waste community is dedicated to:

Benchmarking and replicating Integrated Lean Six Sigma (IL6S) best practices to eliminate waste.Leveraging the best engineering and digital solutions for process capability.In-line measurement for real time process intervention, it’s a key enabler for our vision.Focus group to coach opportunity sites to eliminate waste.

Focusing on Eliminating Food Waste

We have been historically measuring and tackling manufacturing waste generation and disposal. In 2021, we decided to increase our focus on food waste. We believe this makes sense for a food company like us, especially considering that nearly a third of all food produced for human consumption is lost or wasted.

Food waste increases the extraction of materials and growth of agriculture ingredients. This will ultimately not be put to good use as it increases the consumption of energy, water, and transportation. Indeed, food waste has an environmental impact that is 10x greater than packaging waste.

Helping to Stop Good Food Going to Waste

The best-before date (BBD) is misleading for many consumers, creating confusion with the use-by date, and therefore leading to many edible foods being thrown away. To take a stand against food waste, our Philadelphia brand has partnered with Too Good To Go – an innovative app that lets you buy food right before it goes to waste, in Germany, Denmark, and Sweden.

By printing the “Often Good After” logo next to the BBD on our Philadelphia packaging and creating ad hoc informative social media videos, we are helping to educate our consumers to first LOOK, SMELL, and TASTE before throwing away anything still good. 

Too Good To Go – it’s a great idea we’re happy to be part of.

“Too Good To Go is active in several countries, where the topic is becoming more and more sensitive for consumers. We aim to replicate the activity also in other markets to spread the word!”

Vanessa Harrer

Sr Director, Marketing Philadelphia

Preventing, Reducing and Reusing Waste

Our VSA factory team in Brazil implemented a systematic approach to prevent, reduce, and reuse waste – reducing waste by 813 metric tonnes 2022 vs. 2021.

In China, our West Suzhou factory ran a process lost analysis on its wafer production line. The team increased process performance and reduced variability – significantly reducing waste on the line from 5.1% to 2.2%, contributing to 121 tons food waste reduction, which is equal to 10,000,000 wafer sticks!

Read more in the Mondelēz 2022 Snacking Made Right Report

New Holland Agriculture, a brand of CNH Industrial, has been honored in the 10th National CSR Times Award 2023 for its impactful initiatives in India. The company has secured the prestigious Gold Award for its Sustainable Environment Solutions program, addressing the pressing concern of crop stubble burning across 16 locations in India.

The event, held at New Delhi, marked the annual CSR Times Awards, a platform designed to honor noteworthy accomplishments and encourage various stakeholders including Corporates, Corporate Foundations, NGOs, Government and Public Sectors, and Individuals to actively engage in projects that generate a positive and lasting impact on the community.

Delighted at the win, Mr. Narinder Mittal, Country Manager and Managing Director of CNH Industrial – Agriculture Business (India and SAARC), stated, “We are greatly honoured to receive this recognition for our Sustainable Environment Solutions program. This acknowledgment assures us that we are on the right path to making a difference in society through our focused initiatives. At New Holland Agriculture, we are dedicated to fostering positive transformation through innovation and sustainable practices that benefit not only the farming sector but also the broader community. This award encourages us to continue our efforts to create impactful initiatives for a better future.”

Sustainable Environment Solutions focuses on curbing crop stubble burning through sustainable straw management and encourages the use of rakes and balers for eco-friendly straw management, while also raising awareness about crop residue burning’s detrimental effects. From 2017 to 2022, this effort facilitated baling nearly two million tons of paddy straw, substantially cutting carbon emissions that would have otherwise occurred through stubble burning.

By winning this award, CNH Industrial affirms its strong commitment to sustainability and to the future of farming.