In this latest instalment of a monthly top-10 round-up, edie has collated some of the news and features that readers were keen to read and share during July 2018.

Public and media attention in June has been firmly fixed on the ever-extreme weather – be it searing hot days or huge thunderstorms – but despite the heat, news of businesses striving ahead to unveil new commitments, reports and collaborations to help deliver on sustainability pledges have poured in throughout the month – a welcome trend in the move to limit global warming.

As this round-up proves, businesses are charging ahead with new sustainability ideas, frameworks and innovations. So, take a look through all of the month’s most-read news stories, and click the links in the descriptions below to read them for yourself.

McDonald’s joins Starbucks to fund new coffee cup innovations

As the debate around plastics and packaging rages on, media and public attention have unsurprisingly remained on coffee cups this month – particularly after Starbucks announced it would implement a 5p charge for paper cups at all its UK stores. edie’s most-read story of July covered how McDonald’s has committed £3.8m ($5m) to help research, develop and commercialise recyclable and compostable coffee cups, joining Starbucks as a founding member of the NextGen Cup Consortium and Challenge.

University of Bristol trials gamification in staff behaviour change scheme

Readers were particularly keen to find out about The University of Bristol’s new employee-engagement scheme, which aims to encourage staff to improve sustainability and wellbeing both on campus and at home. The programme will see staff earn rewards by pledging to save energy and water, reduce waste, purchase sustainably and use sustainable travel.

Liverpool to use blockchain technology to become world’s first climate-positive city

Blockchain remains a hotly-debated topic in the sustainability sphere and is viewed as one of the ‘essential eight’ emerging technologies by PwC that will play a crucial role in tackling issues around climate and biodiversity. This month saw Liverpool City Council pledge to use the technology to offset 110% of its carbon emissions by the end of 2020. What do you think, is offsetting the answer?

On the Mission Possible sofa with Interface’s Jon Khoo and Kingfisher’s Caroline Laurie

In the eighth and final instalment of edie’s Mission Possible Sofa video series, senior reporter Matt Mace discusses how sustainability can be embedded across a business, including at boardroom level, with Interface’s innovation partner Jon Khoo and Kingfisher’s head of sustainability Caroline Laurie.

edie’s Sustainability Leaders Awards are back with a bang as entries officially open for 2019

They’re back, bigger and bolder than ever. July saw edie officially open entries for the 2019 Sustainability Leaders Awards –  and the scheme has undergone an exciting revamp to match the incredible progress being made by individuals and organisations across the country. Now’s the time to submit an entry and celebrate sustainability leadership. 

UK’s largest battery storage facility comes online in Hertfordshire

The topic of energy storage always generates a lot of debate, so it comes as no surprise that one of July’s most-read news stories covered the unveiling of a 50MW installation in Bishop’s Stortford, in Hertfordshire.

edie at 20: How the green agenda entered the UK’s political mainstream

As edie celebrated its 20th year as an industry-leading sustainability brand – and as Parliament entered recess for the summer- insight editor George Ogleby this month examined the extent to which UK green policy has shaped the country’s low-carbon, resource-efficient agenda over the past two decades.

How Coca-Cola is engaging policymakers and the public to combat plastics pollution

Interviews with sustainability leaders always prove popular, and this exclusive discussion with Coca-Cola European Partners’ (CCEP) head of sustainability, Nick Brown, was no different. Brown discussed the corporation’s next steps as it strives to influence policy to reform Producer Responsibility Obligations and implement an effective, nationwide deposit-return system for plastics.

New edie report explores 8 key sustainability challenges, and how to solve them

If you didn’t get the chance to attend the series of workshops at edie Live this year, our new insight report reveals the results of the discussions, where sustainability and energy professionals convened to solve challenges and co-create a sustainable future.

30-minute masterclass: Seven tips to influence the board on a sustainability strategy

As part of the new Sustainability Leadership Programme developed by Cranfield University for edie’s network of sustainability professionals, edie this month hosted its first 30-minute masterclass webinar. This article rounds up seven of the key takeaways from the session.

Sarah George