Environmental News

A Denver-based company finds alternate uses for unusual materials destined for the landfill. Source: GreenSource, 5/1/13

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Thursday that more than 100 New York City restaurants, including haute cuisine temples like Le Bernardin and chains like Pret a Manger, have pledged to reduce the food waste they send to landfills by 50 percent. Source: New York Times, 4/25/13

Electronic Recyclers International (ERI) has launched a new tracking and transparency system that gives customers complete real-time access to the status of their organizational recycling efforts, the company says. Source: Environmental Leader, 5/1/13

Cosmetics companies need to address the environmental consequences of consumption if they are to significantly reduce their ecological footprints, Sustainable Cosmetics Summit organizers say. Source: Environmental Leader, 5/1/13

Properly managing value chain, or Scope 3, emissions is a critical survival tool companies must use to gain competitive advantage in a resource-constrained future, the Carbon Trust says. Source: Environmental Leader, 5/1/13

Echoing the growth in corporate social responsibility reporting, a growing number of mostly small- and medium-sized companies are taking environmental and social stewardship further and becoming benefit corporations -- companies that are legally bound to have a positive effect on society -- according to a report by Worldwatch Institute. Source: Environmental Leader, 5/1/13

Product stewardship legislation has been proposed and considered in a number of states. Legislation is often used to compel various product manufacturers and industries to participate in a qualified program. However, hurdles stand in the way of enacting laws that would be beneficial for the environment, business, communities and future generations of people who will be affected by the outcome. Source: Environmental Leader, 5/1/13

Kaid Benfield outlines his 16 principles for smart urban development. Source: Atlantic Cities, 5/1/13

Source: Environmental Health Perspectives, 5/1/13

From methanol to formaldehyde -- this reaction is the starting point for the synthesis of many everyday plastics. Using catalysts made of gold particles, formaldehyde could be produced without the environmentally hazardous waste generated in conventional methods. Just how the mysterious gold catalyst works has been revealed by theoretical and experimental researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum in a cooperation project. In the international edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie they report in detail on what happens on the gold surface during the chemical reaction. Source: R&D Magazine, 5/1/13

How two mayors of small towns in right-wing America are showing the way to energy and climate progress: through local action. Source: SmartPlanet, 5/1/13

In the latest P2 Pathways column, Jennifer Lasseter explains how the Texas capital's program to spur small green businesses is also providing a boost to its economy. Source: GreenBiz, 4/30/13

A new Green Office Survey will be used to determine which campus offices are conserving energy, recycling and reducing waste. Results from the survey will be used to create tiers for the Green Office Certification program, which will offer incentives to become eco-friendly. Source: University of Toledo, 4/25/13

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis is harvesting the sun's energy with solar panels covering the flat roof of one its buildings. The $245,000 solar power installation is believed to be the largest of its kind in or near downtown Indianapolis. Source: IUPUI, 4/15/13

In California, Toray Industries announced that it has successfully made a partially bio-based PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) using 1,4-butanediol (BDO) made with Genomatica's bio-based process technology. Toray is the first company to publicly confirm successful PBT polymerization of BDO made with Genomatica's process technology, and was the first company, in February 2011, to make PBT 'pellets' using BDO made with Genomatica's bio-based process technology. Yep, that's polybutylene terephthalate, and no, it's not a small furry animal from the Jurassic period. It's a plastic resin found in electrical connectors and plugs, automobile parts such as switches and ignition coils, keyboard caps, bobbins, showerheads, and lately has been found in plastic chopsticks. It has good electrical properties, mechanical properties such as tensile strength and tensile elasticity and well-balanced physical properties such as heat resistance. It's marketed as Toraycon by Toray, Arnite (DSM), Crastin (DuPont), Pocan (Lanxess), Ultradur (BASF), Valox (SABIC Innovative Plastics) and VESTODUR (Evonik Degussa) -- just to name a few industrial brands. Currently, regular PBT resin is produced using petroleum-based ingredients. Source: Biofuels Digest, 4/25/13

Wisconsin has not systematically looked for endocrine disruptors statewide. Research and regulation of them is poorly funded and loosely coordinated, according to a Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism review of records and interviews with government officials and environmental experts. Source: Great Lakes Echo, 4/29/13

Karrie Gibson has gone from part-time tanning salon employee to an international recycling mogul in seven years. The 41-year-old Plainfield woman's rise to the top of the electronics recycling heap has been fast and furious. But above all else, she said she's proud that her company is squeaky clean in an industry that hasn't always had a good reputation. Source: Chicago Sun-Times, 4/29/13

Caesars Entertainment has used an initiative that spans its global operations to engage employees on sustainability at every level. Source: GreenBiz, 4/26/13

Both sides in the extended producer responsibility debate want changes made to how recycling works in the U.S., but don't agree on how to do it. Source: GreenBiz, 4/24/13

Hundreds of three-speed bikes painted "Chicago blue" will hit the streets in June when the city debuts a bicycle-sharing rental program that originally was set to launch last summer, officials are expected to announce Thursday. Source: Governing, 4/25/13

Building 661 at the Navy Yard was never a thing of beauty. Built in 1942, during the first months of U.S. involvement in World War II, the brick-and-concrete structure's purpose was to house an indoor swimming pool, basketball courts, and offices, a function it pragmatically performed until the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard closed in 1995. On Wednesday, the building, which has been unoccupied for nearly two decades, will begin a new life as headquarters of the Energy Efficient Buildings Hub, the two-year-old federally funded innovation center operated by Pennsylvania State University. Source: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/25/13

A question has been simmering on our back burners over the last 15 years: How would we recognize a truly sustainable enterprise if we saw one? Joel Makower's "What is sustainability, anyway?" post asked that question and added a second one: How do we get business people, like sales reps, excited about sustainability? Source: GreenBiz, 4/25/13

Can manufacturers create a fully transparent product that gives consumers and other users a clear picture of the product's environmental impact? Source: GreenBiz, 4/25/13

Every year, Nike brings experts of the world together to tackle a new problem. This year's challenge: finding sustainable textiles that could revolutionize the shoe industry. Source: FastCo,Design, 4/25/13

That Google has reclaimed its position at the top of Greenpeace's sixth annual Cool IT Leaderboard ranking should come as no surprise, but this year it isn't alone -- Cisco has bounced back into a leadership position in a tie for first place. The two companies both earned a score of 58, out of a possible 100, based on their strategies and policies across three areas: 1) Efforts to offer "economy-wide technological climate solutions" that could help reduce global greenhouse gas reductions (40 points);2)Internally focused initiatives intended to minimize the environmental impact of its own operations and cut global warming emissions (25 points); and 3)Active political advocacy aimed at supporting the emergence of "science-based climate and energy policies (35 points). Last year, Google earned a 53, while Cisco rated a 49, so both companies improved their performance in the past 12 months. Source: GreenBiz.com, 4/24/13