Zero waste

DEFINITION: A concept that encourages a whole design approach of resource life cycles to ensure that products are made to be reused, redesigned or recycled.

 

 

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Converting production lines from steel to aluminium between the next two to four years could account for an 18% reduction in carbon emissions

Molson Coors aims to halve carbon intensity by 2025

US-based brewer Molson Coors is targeting a zero-waste-to-landfill status across all of its major manufacturing facilities and a 50% reduction in carbon emissions as part of an ambitious new sustainability strategy that seeks to offset recent business growth.
M&S confirmed it will also roll-out chilled food donations across stores nationwide after a successful pilot which began in May

M&S pioneers Neighbourly non-food redistribution scheme

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has announced it will become social platform Neighbourly's first retail partner to extend its food redistribution scheme to include non-food product donations.
edie spoke with Shirley Rodrigues to get under the skin of City Hall’s bold plan to make London

London's new Environment Strategy: Five key questions answered

As London Mayor Sadiq Khan puts forward a long-term vision to make the capital one of the greenest cities in the world, edie speaks with Khan's Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy Shirley Rodrigues to discuss how City Hall aims to put its ambitious plans into practice.
The Edinburgh Remakery encourages customers to buy refurbished computers, rent affordable workspace and tool

Scotland's circular drive reaches re-use milestone

Scotland's drive for a circular economy has reached a major milestone with today's (8 August) announcement that 100 quality-certified re-use stores are now in operation.
Other notable achievements include a 70% waste recycling rate at JLL UK’s Norwich and London headquarters

JLL UK targets 100% renewables and zero waste to landfill in new 2020 targets

Real estate specialists and investment management firm JLL is chasing 100% renewable electricity and zero waste to landfill offices as part of a new corporate sustainability agenda for 2020.
WSP was a finalist in the edie Sustainability Leaders Awards 2017 in the Carbon Management category

WSP aims for carbon-neutrality by 2025

Engineering consulting firm WSP has revealed plans to become carbon-neutral by 2025 as part of a wide-ranging new sustainability strategy.
Greene King claims that it last year diverted almost 8,000 tonnes from landfill across its operations

Greene King sets zero-waste-to-landfill goal

Greene King has today (19 June) pledged to become the first UK brewer to achieve zero-waste-to-landfill across its estate, with a target date set for 2020.
Until now, landfill or burning were the only options for disposing of MDF, but MDF Recovery has developed a novel, proprietary process to recover wood fibre from the material

Test bed: Scaling up a world-first recycling solution for MDF

edie investigates the green business potential of breakthrough technologies and innovations in this new series of 'test bed' case studies. First up: a look at a world-first solution that creates a secondary material from recycled MDF boards, generating zero waste in the process.
Plan A has so far delivered 296 eco and ethical commitments, saving more than £750m for M&S

Plan A 2025: M&S updates flagship initiative to 'embrace a sustainable future'

Marks & Spencer (M&S) has today (1 June) launched a new roadmap for its Plan A sustainability programme, which includes targets to reduce emissions by 80% and turn the company into a zero-waste business.
The company is also trialling onsite solar panels at its Chapelfield shopping estate

Shopping centre owners launch innovation lab after closing in on CSR targets

Shopping centre owner intu has launched a new Green Lab to identify new solutions to reduce environmental impacts, as outlined in a sustainability report that announced the firm had reached a zero-waste-to-landfill milestone.
Smurfit Kappa aims to remove all avoidable production waste by closing loops at an individual mill level

Smurfit Kappa celebrates 10 years of sustainability excellence

Paper-based packaging company Smurfit Kappa has celebrated a "decade of excellence" in sustainability achievements, which have placed the firm well on-track to supersede its 2020 target to slash emissions by a quarter.
Lib Dem Leader Tim Farron has said that a greener economy

Lib Dem manifesto: Ambitious new laws for emissions reductions, green transport and the circular economy

The Liberal Democrat Party manifesto has been released, outlining a series of ambitious proposals to "build a greener economy" by establishing five new legislative pieces, including a law to deliver net-zero carbon emissions by 2030.

A guide to effective sustainability communications

Whether it's driving engaging with employees to maximise results, with stakeholders to translate progress, or with consumers to drive awareness and brand value, getting sustainability communications right is crucial, and getting it wrong can be disastrous.

In practice: Gatwick Airport's 'world-first' waste management plant

Gatwick’s pioneering energy-from-waste plant represents a huge step forward for sustainable aviation. Find out how it works, who was involved and the key results the facility is driving in this new 'in practice' case study.
Improved transparency has seen Apply identify and solve 196 environmental issues since 2012, including 23 last year

Apple triples supplier sites enrolled in energy efficiency programme

Apple has tripled the number of supplier sites listed in its energy efficiency programme aimed at reducing onsite emissions, and has also introduced a "first-of-its-kind" risk assessment tool covering supply chain risks related to material sourcing, environmental impact and health and safety.
The building was already operating to BREEAM Outstanding levels during its assessment phase, and could receive final stage certification at some point in the future

Costa fires up ultra-sustainable coffee roastery

Costa coffee has today (13 March) turned on the lights at its new £38m roastery, a facility which the company claims is "one of the most sustainable industrial buildings in the world".
P&G's new circular economy project will require a supply of 2,600 tons of PCR plastic every year – the same weight as eight fully loaded Boeing 747 jumbo jets

P&G develops world's first recyclable shampoo bottle made from beach plastic

The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) has today (19 January) announced that it will be mass-producing the world's first recyclable shampoo bottle made from up to 25% post-consumer recycled (PCR) beach plastic.
Almost half (43.4%) of Ikea's UK energy use was generated from renewables last year. Photo: Ben Stephens Architects

Ikea achieves zero-waste-to-landfill status in the UK

The world's biggest furniture retailer has announced that it sent zero waste to landfill across all of its UK and Ireland facilities in 2016, achieving a 90% recycling rate in the process.
P&G's zero-waste pledge comes off the back of a series of significant environmental milestones and pledges announced by the consumer goods business

P&G steps up circular economy commitment with bold zero-waste pledge

Multinational consumer goods firm P&G has announced a major environmental New Year's Resolution: to effectively eliminate all manufacturing waste from its global network of more than 100 production sites by 2020.
The equivalent of over 700,000 wheelie bins full of food is expected to be thrown away in Scotland this month alone

Scotland urged to prevent £90m worth of food waste this Christmas

The Scottish population could reportedly cut more than £90m worth of food waste over the Christmas period, equating to savings of £38 for every Scottish household.
Ford, MillerCoors, Nestle, Vacherin and Vauxhall are among an increasing number of businesses that have achieved zero-waste-to-landfill status

Carbon Trust launches zero-waste-to-landfill certification

Advisory firm The Carbon Trust has unveiled a new certification to award business achievements in diverting zero waste to landfill.

Zero Waste Scotland predicts that businesses could save £2.9bn per year through using energy, water and raw materials more efficiently

Scottish SMEs could save £19,000 per year through energy efficiency measures

Scottish small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are wasting £19,000 every year by neglecting simple energy efficiency improvements, according to Zero Waste Scotland.
The new CSR targets continue PepsiCo's decade-long commitment to delivering 'Performance with Purpose', the firm's CSR strategy first launched in 2006

PepsiCo lifts lid on fresh green business goals

Global food and beverage company PepsiCo has unveiled a revamped list of climate commitments, incorporating plans to decouple emissions from business growth, have a positive water impact, and achieve zero waste to landfill.
Final figures for 2015-16 show that Wales is recycling double the waste it did a decade ago and is exceeding the current statutory recycling target of 58%

Wales doubles recycling rates in 10 years

Wales continues to lead the UK on waste management as new recycling figures for this year reveal that the country has doubled the amount of waste it has recycled over the past decade.
Zero Waste Scotland chief executive Iain Gulland and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change, Environment and Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham at the Scottish Resources Conference 2016 in Edinburgh

Scotland opens up 'circular regions' funding to drive SME resource revolution

Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change, Environment and Land Reform Roseanna Cunningham has this week announced a targeted funding call to better support the nation's SMEs in embrace the shift to a circular economy.
Listen to eight exclusive interviews about the circular economy and responsible retail in this special two-part episode of the edie podcast

The Sustainable Business Covered podcast: Episode 11 (Parts 1&2) - Circular economy dreams and responsible retail

What are the next steps that need to be taken to make the circular economy a reality? And are current retail business models fit for purpose if we are to accelerate the transition to a zero-carbon, resource-efficient future? Part two...
edie took a behind-the-scenes tour of a paper mill owned and run by Smurfit Kappa, one of the world’s largest paper-based packaging businesses

The story of Roermond: How Smurfit Kappa is making the circular economy a reality

Packaging giant Smurfit Kappa invites edie on a behind-the-scenes tour of its pioneering zero-waste paper mill in the Netherlands, which stands as an exemplar of the firm's global circular economy ambitions.
The report calls on every country, every major city and every company that deals with food supply chains to set targets consistent with the aims of the SDGs

Target, measure, act: Global scale-up needed to accelerate food waste reduction

One year on from the establishment of the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), nations and businesses have been urged to target, measure and reduce food waste in line with Goal 12.3, which calls for food waste to be halved by 2030.
Sources said that Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania and Bulgaria support Berlin’s idea, while the UK, Italy, Finland and Greece, are open to considering it

Germany wants to scrap EU recycling targets

Germany, the EU's most influential country and its leading recycler, has called for recycling targets in the European Commission's Circular Economy package of green laws to be scrapped.

A Resourceful Future – Expanding the UK Economy

This report by SUEZ reveals that more than £9bn could be added to the UK economy by integrating circular economy principles into the country’s emerging industrial strategy.
With the zero-waste status in place, Vacherin has pledged to ramp-up its recycling efforts. The company’s recycling rate already sits at 70% - well above the industry average of 57%

Vacherin becomes zero-waste business one year ahead of schedule

London catering business Vacherin has revealed that it has achieved a zero-waste to landfill business status, one year ahead of schedule, as it also closes in on an 80% recycling target set for 2018.