As we begin a new year, some of the world’s biggest corporations are making efforts to reduce their impact on the environment.
According to Amy Pay of The Telegraph, 2018 “will see large corporations adopting circular economy solutions, where high proportions of unwanted, landfill-destined byproducts are given a new lease of life.”
As well as benefitting the environment, adopting these measures could generate £29 billion GDP in the UK, according to the findings of Veolia.
Some of the corporations implementing circular economy solutions include Dell, which in December 2017 formed a collaboration with Lonely Whale to launch “a cross-industry working group” dedicated to fighting pollution caused by waste plastic. As a result of this initiative, partners of Dell “will intercept ocean plastics at the source” and “process and refine recovered plastics”, using them to help create delivery packaging.
Adrian Grenier, Dell’s Social Good Advocate, said: “Not only are we keeping plastics from entering our ocean, but we’re also educating consumers and leading by example through developing new and innovative business systems.”
When it comes to the supply chain of a major business, it can often be difficult to uncover environmental problems “without access to every data point”, so more companies are turning to supply chain design software provided by firms like LLamasoft.
As LLamasoft’s Vice President for the EMEA region, Will Lovatt, explains, this kind of software is “the future” when it comes to forging more eco-friendly supply chains for businesses.
“Big companies can use software to set up models of their
supply chains to identify major sources of emissions and model different scenarios, measuring the financial implication of achieving sustainability goals,” he says.
“By building multi-year models, they can develop and phase greenhouse gas reduction programmes, and monitor and report on progress during implementation.”
Other technological innovations can also help reduce environmental impact, such as HP’s Instant Ink service, which “combines technology, customer service and environmental responsibility” by orchestrating the delivery of replacement ink cartridges to customers whose ink is running low.
In addition, used cartridges are recycled to create new ones helping to reduce waste, cut costs and give HP a more environmentally friendly image.
Last but not least, Sainsbury’s is also looking to adopt more sustainable practices this year, revealing that, by the middle of 2018, “each of its fridges will possess aerofoil technology that prevents cold air spilling out.”
“We will see energy reductions of up to 15pc, which is a significant saving,”explained Paul Crewe, the company’s Head of Sustainability.
“We’re accelerating how we reduce our impact on the environment.”
