How organizations are working to address the myriad social, environmental and operational issues that can arise in complex supply chains
An estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic waste are in the ocean today and every year around eight million metric tons more are being added. Earlier this year, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation warned that by 2050 there will be more plastic than f... View More
Approximately 21 million Americans own woodlands in the United States. Collectively, these family-owned forests account for nearly 290 million acres, or more than one-third of U.S. forests — more than the federal government or the forest industry. ... View More
Technological advancements, circular design principles and innovative raw materials are rapidly transforming the apparel industry, but lack of transparency continues to present a significant obstacle to sustainable sector-wide improvement across envi... View More
Electric vehicles and alternative fuels are key components of the auto industry’s vision for the future, but technology isn’t the only thing driving sustainable mobility. ... View More
An estimated 750,000 farmers in India produce 80 percent of the world’s supply of mint and the oil derived from the crop — commonly referred to as “liquid gold” — is an important source of income for farmers. ... View More
Plastic pollution is on the rise, a problem that threatens both human and environmental health. Between 4.8 million and 12.7 million tons of plastic end up in the world’s oceans every year and animals aren’t the only ones being affected — a rec... View More
Zara’s parent company, Inditex, is in full-on damage-control mode after tags bearing messages such as “I made this item you are going to buy, but I didn’t get paid for it,” began turning up in garments earlier this month. ... View More
In an effort to accelerate improvement on ethical social and environmental performance throughout the beauty supply chain, Clarins, Coty, Groupe Rocher, L’Oréal and EcoVadis have launched the Responsible Beauty Initiative (RBI). ... View More
Over the past two years, as more organizations have linked their supply chains into the platform, we’ve seen the positive benefit of Smart-Mapped questions continue to grow. ... View More
PR and communications agency Sustainability Consult has published the results of the #WhatBrandsWant survey, projecting considerable growth in the biomaterials market as consumer demand and stakeholder pressure drive brand investment towards the deve... View More
As part of its CanopyStyle initiative, environmental NGO Canopy has released an updated and expanded edition of its Hot Button Report, a ranking of eleven viscose and rayon producers that represent 70 percent of global viscose production. ... View More
Companies operating in the apparel industry could be missing out on new opportunities for growth by not digitizing data on leftovers from garment factories, says a new report by H&M Foundation Global Change Award winner Reverse Resources. ... View More
The issue of worker exploitation and forced labor continues to gain global attention, as more and more companies rise to the challenge to align their operations with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. ... View More
More and more companies are making public commitments to cut greenhouse gas emissions outside of their own operations. Why? Because compared to scope 1 and 2 emissions (from direct activities), avoiding scope 3 emissions can have the greatest impact ... View More
Soy and beef production have played significant roles in the exploitation of the Amazonian rainforest, but the rollout of regulations to protect these precious natural resources have had unexpected consequences, driving these activities into regions ... View More
Luxury fashion label Stella McCartney has released the results of a new Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) comparing the environmental performance of ten raw material sources of manmade cellulose fiber (MMCF). ... View More
The Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN), a project of the nonprofit organization As You Sow dedicated to ending human rights abuses associated with raw materials, has released a new report analyzing 206 companies’ due diligence regarding the use of ... View More
British supermarket giants Asda and The Co-operative, together with leading sustainable business and supply chain platform 2degrees, are paving the way for the future of supply chain collaboration by enabling mutual suppliers to submit aggregated dat... View More
A coalition of businesses, international organizations and NGOs have banded together to put an end to the social and environmental impacts driving the growing trade in batteries for smartphones, gadgets, electric vehicles and renewable energy storage... View More
Blockchain technology is quickly emerging as a vital tool in tackling critical environmental and social issues. IBM recently touted the technology’s potential address challenges along the global food supply chain and is working with partners to ide... View More