Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility

Paper Products Company Reportedly Cuts Greenhouse Gas Emissions 60 Percent by Moving from Road to Rail

September 9, 2013

Packaging and paper products manufacturer Boise has cut CO2 emissions by 60 percent by switching from road to rail and packing its products more efficiently in rail containers, says a case study from Environmental Defense Fund.

Is Your Business Ready for a Spike in Customer Returns?

September 9, 2013

John Costanzo, President, Purolator International

What would you do if you knew your business was going to face a loss of as much as nine percent of bottom line sales? Hopefully, you would try to avoid calamity by putting steps in place to manage the situation with a customer-friendly returns management program.

Improper E-waste Disposal Often Results in Counterfeit Parts Re-entering Electronics Supply Chain

September 4, 2013

Electronics News

The counterfeiting of electronics (as well as the exporting of e-waste, which has been demonstrated to directly enable this type of counterfeiting) is currently seen as only a minor crime, even though it has been extensively proven to cause financial loss, injury, and death. That may be changing.

How Much Energy Does Retail Consume to Power E-commerce and Business Intelligence?

August 29, 2013

Storefront Backtalk

How much electricity is all of retail's e-commerce, big-data analytics and mobile shopping devouring? No one has calculated that, but a report out this month argues that all IT now consumes about 10 percent of the world's electricity.

GAO to Probe How Administration Calculates Damage from Carbon Pollution

August 28, 2013

The Hill

The investigative arm of Congress is going to look into how the Obama administration developed its increased monetary estimate for the amount of damage caused by carbon pollution.

Project Designed to 'Green' Europe's Freight Terminals and Ports

August 27, 2013

Cordis

Sea and inland navigation ports and freight terminals in Europe are faced with growing energy costs and major political and societal pressure in terms of their environmental performance.

Make Your Supply Chain More Sustainable by Knowing Five W's of ISO 14001 Certification

August 19, 2013

Ryder

If you're responsible for supply chain management or providing supply chain services, reducing your carbon footprint is likely becoming a priority. So how do you get there from here? One route to sustainability is ISO 14001 certification. Here's the Who, What, When, Where, Why and How of getting there.

Increasingly, Companies See Sustainability and Risk Management as Related Issues

August 15, 2013

Ernst & Young LLP

Companies are increasingly connecting the dots between risk management and sustainability by making sustainability issues more prominent on corporate agendas, says a study by Ernst & Young LLP and GreenBiz. Driven by trends such as extreme weather events and risks to natural resources, among other factors, the shift is evidenced by the increasing involvement in sustainability-related issues of shareholders and the C-suite. At the same time, the study finds, companies are not adequately aligning risk response to the scale of sustainability challenges.

Recognizing Energy Saving Potential in the Supply Chain

August 12, 2013

Sustainable Plant

Companies that want to reduce their carbon footprint need to pay attention to the energy they use. But at least as important - and in some cases even more so - is paying attention to the energy used by links in their supply chain.

Supply Chain Sustainability Important, Survey Finds, But Execs Say Cost Outweighs Environmental Benefits

August 8, 2013

AlixPartners

While most executives recognize the importance of supply chain sustainability, cost is still a major factor and trumps environmental impact as a driver of behavior, according to a survey of 150 C-level and senior leaders at U.S. and European companies, according to AlixPartners, a global business-advisory firm. However, those that can implement cost-effective sustainability strategies and effectively market them to customers will have a competitive advantage.