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Mission Possible: Achieving a sustainable future for FOOD & DRINK MANUFACTURING

This brand-new sector insight report provides an end-to-end overview of the steps that organisations within Britain's food & drink manufacturing industry can take to achieve a sustainable future, today.

In action: EDF's renewable energy-based renovation of a listed building

Between 2012 and 2015, EDF Energy embarked on an ambitious project to bring a listed 12th Century building into the 21st Century by installing onsite renewable systems to generate low-carbon heat, cooling and electricity.

In 2011, the Clorox Company became an early adopter of the integrated reporting approach

Clorox exceeds carbon reduction target three years early

The Clorox Company has surpassed its 2020 goal to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 20%, according to the consumer goods giant’s latest annual report.

From left to right: Marston's' energy manager Chris White, head of group facilities Andy Kershaw and waste and recycling co-ordinator Jon Davies

Marston's achieves zero-waste-to-landfill goal

Pub chain and brewer Marston's has revealed that it has hit its 2020 zero-waste-to-landfill goal two years ahead of schedule, after sending more than three-quarters (77%) of its waste to be recycled this year.

edie Explains: Combined heat & power (CHP)

Is combined heat & power (CHP) right for your business? What are the different CHP technology options, and how do you choose the right one? This updated edie explains business guide has the answers.

A number of eye-catching and potentially transformational innovations aimed at tackling waste challenges have emerged recently

Seaweed-based bottles and food-saving filters: The best green innovations for Zero Waste Week

To mark Zero Waste Week (3-7 September), edie has rounded up some of the ground-breaking innovations being explored by companies across the globe as the focus on waste among consumers, politicians and the business community reaches a fever pitch.

The self-supply option allows Greene King to buy its water and wastewater services at the wholesale price, which is a protected price that all retailers pay

Greene King saving more than 600,000 pints of water daily since water retail switch

Pub chain and brewer Greene King has revealed that it is saving more than 600,000 pints of water each day since obtaining a self-supply licence to deliver its own water and wastewater services last year.

edie at 20: How did sustainability become so business-critical?

edie's 20th anniversary as a sustainable business media brand is an ideal opportunity to remind ourselves of the past two decades of corporate sustainability, which have seen it evolve from an environmental add-on to a fundamental aspect of growth.

Landsec avoided £2.5m in landfill tax by sending no waste to landfill last year

Landsec achieves zero-waste-to-landfill goal

Property developer Landsec has achieved its zero-waste-to-landfill ambition and is within touching distance of its 2020 target of recycling three-quarters of its waste, having sent 74.9% to be recycled in 2017.

The move serves as a boost to AT&T’s existing waste strategy, which includes a pledge to refurbish or recycle 200 million electric devices by the end of 2020

AT&T sets zero-waste goal for 100 sites

The world's largest telecoms company AT&T has pledged to achieve zero-waste-to-landfill status across 100 of its facilities by 2020, including at its global headquarters in Dallas, Texas.

All waste managed by Veolia for Wetherspoon’s will remain in the UK, further reducing the carbon impact of its estate

Wetherspoon and Veolia partner up to tackle food waste

Pub chain J D Wetherspoon has teamed up with waste management firm Veolia to convert more than 11,000 tonnes of food waste into green energy.

Apple and its suppliers are almost three-quarters of the way along a path to purchasing more than 4GW clean energy worldwide by 2020

Apple moves towards greener supply chain with zero-waste and clean energy milestones

Apple has made progress in its ongoing effort towards a greener supply chain, with big achievements over the past year in key areas such as waste and low-carbon energy procurement.

Ikea recently joined a collective energy switch that promises an exclusive 100% renewable electricity tariff

Ikea boosts sustainable products and renewable energy sourcing

The world's biggest furniture retailer has made strides in its mission to deliver sustainable products and transition to renewable energy, Ikea's latest global sustainability report has shown.

The upcycled garments are being donated to homeless charity, The Albert Kennedy Trust, which supports young LGBT homeless people in crisis

Virgin Trains hands over old uniforms to prison in recycling scheme

Prisoners at HMP Northumberland will take part in a recycling initiative which will see old Virgin Trains uniforms transformed into new textiles in a bid to reduce reoffending rates.

PwC exceeded its 25% carbon reduction target for 2017, which was set against a 2007 baseline

PwC sets carbon reduction and business growth targets

Professional services firm PwC has targeted a 40% reduction in carbon emissions and a switch to 100% renewable electricity while continuing to expand its business.

Britvic has also made major strides in its bid to develop a viable bottle from sustainable wood fibres

Britvic on course for zero-waste status

Soft drinks company Britvic looks set to become a zero-waste company by 2020, with the firm's latest sustainability report revealing recent efforts to cut down on plastic waste, carbon emissions and water use.

Around £13bn of food is wasted in the UK, but only 17% of edible surplus food is currently being redistributed. Image: Nestle

Nestlé to redistribute site-level food waste set aside for animal feed

A new initiative from Nestlé and food redistribution organisation Company Shop could increase the amount of food redistributed from UK operations by two million meals annually, by using site assessments to reduce waste at its source.

Ikea UK’s Food is Precious initiative has resulted in a 32% reduction in food waste across stores

Ikea UK's resource-efficiency drive blossoms as revenues surge

Ikea UK has made strides to become a "truly circular retailer", with the company's annual report highlighting resource-efficiency progress and a second consecutive year of zero waste sent to landfill during a period of economic growth.

Renewable energy in the supply chain

This new report focuses on the opportunity for companies to amplify their carbon reduction efforts by driving renewables through their supply chains. Given how easy it is to choose renewable electricity in the UK, businesses could be doing more to engage with their suppliers.

Beyond the carrier bags

The success of the 5p carrier bag charge shows just how influential supermarkets can be in encouraging shoppers to adopt sustainable practices. How can they innovate to keep up the momentum asks Shilen Patel, CEO of Independents United.

P&G formed a partnership with recycling experts TerraCycle to create viable solutions for the plastics that are collected

How P&G formed a new supply chain to combat ocean plastics

EXCLUSIVE: The Procter & Gamble (P&G) Company's new Fairy Ocean Plastic Bottle serves to highlight a "totally new supply chain and approach" to incorporating post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic into products, as the firm closes in on a 2020 packaging target.

Global deposit return schemes

Deposit return schemes add a small deposit on to the cost of drinks which is refunded to the consumer when the container is returned. Hence, the incentive for consumers to recycle their drinks containers is much greater. Containers, such as glass, can be refilled and other such as cans can be recycled, eliminating wastage of the containers.

Your top sustainable innovation questions answered

In August I delivered the Sustainable Innovation Masterclass as part of Edie's webinar series. This generated a great debate and a lot of questions from attendees, that we simply didn't have time to answer in the allotted time. This blog revisits and answer these questions as a way to keep the debate going. Do chip in and let us know what you think.

Sector insight: The state of sustainability in manufacturing

This edie Insight report explores some of the key drivers, challenges and opportunities facing sustainability in UK manufacturing.

London’s historic food market also aims to achieve zero landfill with biodegradable packaging and compostable leftovers

Borough Market to phase out plastic bottle sales with free fountains

London's Borough Market is to introduce free drinking water fountains as part of a new pledge to phase out sales of all single-use plastic bottles over the next six months.

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.

Changing the world one sustainable idea at a time

I've headed up sustainability at AkzoNobel for 14 years now. During that time, I have often been utterly amazed - and disappointed - about how some segments of the corporate world (even in our own industry sector) have gone about adopting and incorporating sustainable business practices.

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".

Sustainability Leaders Awards 2017 speech

In case you missed last night's Sustainability Leaders Awards ceremony, here is the short opening address I gave at the London Hilton on Hyde Park, in celebration of those who are driving the green industrial revolution.

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.

Brexit: a bad choice is no excuse for not moving towards zero waste

How will Brexit impact Britain's waste management practices? Joan Marc Simon of Zero Waste Europe says that it doesn't have to mean the end of the path to a zero-waste future for Britain.

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.

Join the conversation at the edie Leaders Club

The edie Leaders Club is an exclusive, member-only group for over 200 sustainability leaders, who come together to share knowledge, experience and best practice in the journey to make business more sustainable.

Zero Waste Scotland is encouraging applications from predominantly urban areas to follow the two existing Zero Waste Towns in the smaller rural locations of Dunbar and Bute

Candidates sought for Scotland's third 'Zero Waste Town'

Zero Waste Scotland are seeking candidates to apply for the title of Scotland's third 'Zero Waste Town' by demonstrating a commitment to circular economy principles.

Of the 10,000 parts that GM uses to build its vehicle portfolio, 95% have to be recyclable as part of new legislation that the company introduced in January 2015

General Motors turns to resource efficiency to alleviate regulatory 'perfect storm'

EXCLUSIVE: Amidst all of the political uncertainty surrounding the UK's pending departure from the European Union, General Motors' (GM) regulatory affairs and CSR manager has said that embedding closed-loop processes is enabling the company to thrive amidst an ongoing "regulatory storm".

Mars has achieved zero-waste-to-landfill status at all of its factories around the world, while Ford is now zero-waste-to-landfill at all of its manufacturing plants in Europe

Mars and Ford hit big zero-waste-to-landfill milestones

Multinational corporations Mars and Ford have announced zero-waste-to-landfill achievements across their respective factories in their latest sustainability reports.

Carpet is woven at Interface Europe's manufacuring facility in Scherpenzeel, the Netherlands. The company wants to ignite a green industrial revolution. Photo: Interface

Climate Take Back: Inside Interface's bold new mission to reverse climate change

EXCLUSIVE: Just four years away from its ambitious Mission Zero deadline, global carpet manufacturer and sustainability leader Interface has decided to evolve its sustainability strategy, developing an unparalleled initiative that goes "beyond the boundaries" of any single company. edie's Matt Mace investigates.

The LARAC chair said the organisation looked forward to working with both the REA and the Government to find solutions to the UK’s recycling and sustainability needs

REA calls for 'urgent' collaboration between food waste industry and local authorities

Increased collaboration and action is needed between the food waste industry and local authorities to boost recycling and food waste capture rates, according to the Renewable Energy Association (REA) and the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC).

Safe and legal neutralisation of wastewater

Caustic soda, magnesium hydroxide or liquid lime?

Workshop spaces and a tour of the premises will be available to visitors during the grand opening of the Remakery, located at 125 Leith Walk

Edinburgh launches 'Remakery' to ignite re-use and repair revolution

An Edinburgh social enterprise has set up a unique re-use and repair superstore to encourage second-hand shopping and enable more people to learn key repair skills in the Scottish capital, as a way of driving a circular economy.

The new ESA report outlines four areas that the Government should focus on to push towards a circular economy

Waste industry calls for 'urgent Government intervention' to drive UK circular economy

Whilst UK recycling rates continue to creep upwards, "urgent Government intervention" is needed to create a more resilient waste collection system that transforms the nation into a world-leader when it comes to waste and resource management.

Sainsbury's AD partnership with ReFood helps the retailer deliver its commitment to send zero operational waste to landfill

Sainsbury's set to expand AD scheme to power more stores from food waste

A scheme which sees a number of Sainsbury's supermarkets powered by renewable energy generated from food waste is to be rolled out to a further six stores, after a successful first year saw green gas produce 10% of the retailer's entire national energy consumption.

The rules, subject to approval by the Parliament and the Council of Ministers, are a first step to adapting the economy to a future of finite resources and a booming population

EU vows tough enforcement of circular economy package

The circular economy package of waste and recycling laws will be backed by tougher European Commission enforcement than seen under previous administrations, an official yesterday (5 April) told plastic industry delegates.

Clyde Arc bridge reflected in river Clyde Glasgow. Zero Waste Scotland is hoping to drive a business-led circular economy across the country

Scotland's SMEs urged to 'seize opportunity' of resource revolution

Scotland's circular economy body Zero Waste Scotland has today (18 March) launched an £18m fund to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) explore and pioneer ways to develop a circular economy.

The boat will be used each day to fish more waste out of the water systems and put a spotlight on the effects of plastics in our waters

Interface builds boat from 7,000 plastic bottles to tackle ocean pollution

The world's largest carpet tile manufacturer has joined forces with a 'plastic fishing' company to design and create a unique boat made from more than 7,000 plastic bottles fished from the canals of Amsterdam.

MillerCoors Fort Worth Brewery in Texas reduced waste by 66 percent in 2015 compared to 2014

MillerCoors toasts zero waste to landfill status after behaviour change drive

America's second-largest brewer has achieved landfill-free operations at all of its major breweries across the country, thanks to an enhanced focus on employee engagement and behaviour change.

Unilever estimate that eliminating waste from these 600 sites has contributed to cost-benefits of €200million

More than 600 Unilever sites reach zero waste to landfill status

Unilever has today (9 February) revealed that more than 600 of its sites across 70 countries have achieved zero waste to landfill status, after the company identified alternate routes for non-hazardous waste streams in its operations.

Peterborough's new Energy Recovery Facility has started receiving deliveries from Peterborough City Council

Peterborough opens £72m energy recovery plant

A new state-of-the-art Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Peterborough is expected to help the city divert 95% of its waste from landfill.

Two-fifths of diners say they are too embarrassed to ask restaurant staff for a ‘doggy bag’

Scottish 'doggy bag' scheme could cut restaurant food waste by 42%

The Scottish Government has launched a new food-waste reduction scheme designed to encourage restaurant goers to take their leftovers home with them.

GM is working across the globe to make 150 plants landfill free by 2020

Vauxhall goes landfill-free across all European facilities

Global car manufacturers General Motors has announced that all of its Vauxhall facilities across Europe are 100% landfill free, with the facilities either recycling, reusing or creating energy from daily waste operations.