sustainability

Principals from major retailers and trucking and shipping companies told the 2013 Georgia Foreign Trade Conference of progress in emissions control, reduced energy consumption and cost savings.

Consumer packaged goods giant The Procter & Gamble Company has launched the Supplier Environmental Sustainability Scorecard and rating process to measure and improve the environmental performance of its key suppliers. The new scorecard will assess P&G suppliers' environmental footprint and encourage continued improvement by measuring energy use, water use, waste disposal and greenhouse gas emissions on a year-to-year basis.

It is hoped that this work will lay the foundation for an industry standard and the scorecard will be "open code" for use by any organization to help promote a working discussion and determine common supply chain evaluation processes across all industries.

The British Shippers Council (BSC), a democratic arm of the U.K.’s Freight Transport Association, rebuffed proposals to impose a bunker levy on shippers to fund environmental compensation schemes and reduce carbon emissions. The BSC believes it would simply result in passing on shipping carbon costs rather than addressing the real issue of curbing carbon and greenhouse gas emissions.

The bunker levy plan has been represented as a way to capture billions of dollars from the maritime industry for redistribution via the International Maritime Organization (IMO) into an environmental compensation plan to help ship owners meet their climate change responsibilities and reduce carbon emissions.

Nestle, like most consumer packaged goods companies, has a strong Sustainability program, and as a European company has perhaps been at it for longer than many of its US counterparts.

There is just one problem - environmentalists hate its bottled water.

For years, Nestle benefited from the long surge in bottled water sales, achieving double digit annual growth with such brands as Perrier, San Pellegrino, Pure Life and Poland Springs. In 2009, Nestl?'s market share was 38% of the $10 billion US bottled water market.

Despite the global recession of 2008 and 2009, many large third-party logistics (3PL) companies increased their respective commitments to developing greener practices and building environmental sustainability programs during that time, according to a new report. The report is based on key findings from the 2008 and 2009 "3PL Provider CEO Perspective" surveys, which interviewed 35 third-party logistics company CEOs across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific whose companies were responsible for generating approximately $60 billion in revenue each year.

Companies often collaborate with suppliers and customers to reduce the carbon footprint of their freight operations. Colombian manufacturer Corona and the Center for Latin-American Logistics Innovation (CLI), based in Bogot?, Colombia, have teamed up with another important logistics player to lower carbon emissions: the truck driver community.

Founded in 1881, Corona is one the largest manufacturers in South America. It has six business units, and 12 plants in Colombia, three in Central America, one in Brazil, and three plants in the US. The company makes products ranging from construction materials to household ceramics.

Six years ago, Corona launched an environmental sustainability program that set goals for improvement in five areas: Climate change (more efficient use of energy and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions), eco efficiency (more efficient use of water and a reduced water footprint), conservation of natural resources, developing sustainable products, and regulatory compliance.