For building products manufacturer Owens Corning Corp., whose annual transportation fuel bill hits about $100m, $1.1m in savings over the last year or so may seem like a drop in the bucket. Unless, that is, the bucket is filled with found money.

One of the first analyses of laws banning disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) in municipal landfills has found that state e-waste recycling bans have been mostly ineffective, although California's Cell Phone Recycling Act had a positive impact. However, e-waste recycling rates remain "dismally low," and many demographic groups remain unaware of their alternatives for properly disposing of e-waste, according to the study presented at the 246th National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society.

Challenge: A multi-billion dollar supplier of inks and colorants needed a logistics partner to service its customers in the Western U.S. Since a portion of the company's products are flammable and combustible, they sought a California 3PL that could ensure compliance with California's chemical storage and shipment regulations.

Initiatives by such retail giants as Tesco and Walmart and recent research by bodies including the University of Minnesota Institute highlight the impact suppliers within a supply chain have on a company's energy footprint, but research by renewable energy company Urban Wind suggests that policies targeting vendors' energy use are piling pressure on UK suppliers.

Verify Brand, active in supply chain security software systems, says its new Verify Platform, a piece of advanced serialization, traceability and authentication software, could stop illegal, dangerous and counterfeit chemicals from entering a manufacturer's supply chain.

Increased importance to quality, production performance, business system integration, and increased regulations on food and drug safety are fueling the growth in the batch management software (BMS) market. Global economic conditions and countries with increasingly troublesome fiscal conditions and policies are impacting regional growth patterns.