Published every week, the new series charts how businesses and sustainability professionals are working to achieve their ‘Mission Possible’ across the campaign’s five key pillars – energyresourcesinfrastructuremobility and business leadership.

This edition of the ‘Achieving Mission Possible’ round-up highlights some of the tremendous progress we are now seeing right across the globe.

From off-grid condos powered by battery-stored solar power, to a campaign aimed at restoring 750 hectares of Australian land, each of these projects and initiatives are empowering businesses and governments to achieve a sustainable future, today.

Achieving Mission Possible: The sustainability success stories of the week (6-10 August 2018)

ENERGY: Burnley brewery to power production of one million pints with solar energy

Big-name brewers have made several moves to become more sustainable in recent times, with Carlsberg and Heineken both unveiling carbon-neutral breweries and Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) moving to order 800 zero-emission, hydrogen-electric semi-trucks.

Following this trend, independent Burnley-based brewery Moorhouse’s has announced that it will now be able to produce one million pints of beer using solar power annually after installing a 50kWp – the rate of energy generation at peak performance – array of PV panels on the roof of its main facility.

The array, which was completed late last month by Energy Gain UK, consists of 169 PV panels and is expected to generate 42,000kWh of electricity each year – all of which will be used by Moorhouse’s.

“Quite rightly, there is a greater expectation from consumers for companies to act more responsibly and they can now make a positive difference through the beer they drink, without compromising on quality,” Moorhouse’s managing director Lee Williams said.

RESOURCES: Princes now using 30% recycled plastic in drinks bottles

As consumer pressure for tackling packaging waste mounts, the likes of Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble (P&G) have moved to up the proportion of recycled content they use in their packaging.

With plastics continuing to be one of the most widely discussed sustainability issues among professionals and the general public alike, plastic bottle producers Princes has posted a resource success story. The firm has announced that it is now manufacturing its range of beverage bottles with 30% post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic as it strives towards a 51% goal by the end of September.

The company, which owns brands including Aqua Pura and Napolina, is sourcing the recycled content from a UK supplier as part of its ongoing goal of using 100% recycled content in its plastic packaging range. The commitment is notable, as Princes produces around 7% of the plastic bottles used in the UK annually – around 900 million a year.

THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: Off-grid construction condo which runs entirely on solar power unveiled

British electricity distributors have continued to push the case for installing PV panels on customer homes in recent months, with UK Power Networks announcing plans to create the nation’s first “virtual” solar power station by the end of the year and Google rolling out its project sunroof scheme in the UK.

Meanwhile, in Germany, engineering and construction firm the Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) has completed work to erect a combined office and accommodation cabin which is powered entirely by solar generation.

The cabins are fitted with solar panels on their roofs and have battery storage technology from German firm Tesvolt built in, allowing them to operate entirely off-grid, provided they are positioned to receive six hours of sunlight daily.

CCC believes the cabins could be used by construction industry workers who need to live and work on project sites in sunny climes, eliminating the costs associated with grid extension.

MOBILITY: Ikea to use fleet of electric rickshaws at new store in India

As businesses move to electrify their fleet, several delivery companies have taken steps to decarbonise their deliveries to customers, with UPS trialling a pilot fleet of electric vehicles (EVs) in Paris and London alongside a power-assisted trailer, and Milk and More integrating 200 electric trucks into its delivery service across the UK.

The latest move towards fleet electrification came this week from global furniture retailer Ikea, which has announced that it will use electric rickshaws to dispatch at least 20% of deliveries from its new Hyderabad store in India.

The fleet of rickshaws, which Ikea claims have been chosen due to India’s notoriously dense traffic and narrow streets, will be charged using 100% renewable power, generated by the 4,000 solar panels on the store’s roof.

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP: The Body Shop expands Bio-Bridges scheme in Australia

Widely known as a sustainability leader in the retail sector for its ambitious global sustainability strategy, which and boasts a headline goal to become the world’s “most ethical and truly sustainable business“, The Body Shop has announced plans to expand its Bio-Bridges scheme in a bid to protect koala bears.

The scheme, which launched in 2016, enables each transaction made in-store to protect a proportion of habitat in areas which host endangered species – with the expansion set to preserve 750 hectares of forests near Queensland. Funding to preserve the Australian habitats will be raised through sales of The Body Shop’s limited-edition Hemp and British Rose hand creams, with £1 from each product sold going towards the scheme.

In addition to Australia, The Body Shop announced a new re-wilding project in Kyrgyzstan, which will support the restoration of 400 hectares of forest through community-led programmes.

The Body Shop’s international director of corporate responsibility, Christopher Davis, previously told edie that the Bio-Bridges programme “offers a lifeline for wildlife depending on some of the planet’s most biodiverse but threatened habitats”.

Sarah George

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