Aldi commits to only selling plastic-free wipes

Good News Notes: “The switch will see all the wipes across its Mamia baby, Lacura beauty and household ranges chage to 100% plant-based fibres, making them all biodegradable. Aldi estimates the move will prevent the equivalent of 7,000 tonnes of single-use plastic from going to landfill each year. Richard Gorman, Plastics and Packaging Director at Aldi, said:…

Walmart makes an investment in vertical farming start-up Plenty

Good News Notes: “Walmart said Tuesday that it is investing in vertical farming company Plenty and plans to carry the start-up’s leafy greens in all California stores later this year. The big-box retail giant did not disclose the size of the equity stake or the terms of the commercial deal, but said a Walmart executive will…

Levi’s Is Upcycling the Liquified Remains of Old Jeans

Good News Notes: “The denim industry is fraught with environmental problems. This is largely because denim is made with cotton, a pesticide-fed, resource-intensive crop. In fact, it takes around 10,000 liters of water to grow enough cotton for just one pair of jeans (that’s about 65 times the amount an average person uses in one…

ABB helps Zume offer compostable food trays

Good News Notes: “Switzerland-based ABB Robotics says it has signed an agreement to collaborate with California-based packaging maker Zume to supply robotic cells designed to boost Zume’s production of what Zume calls 100 percent compostable packaging “made from plant-based agricultural material.” “ABB robots will automate production, enabling the scale and speed required to make Zume’s…

PepsiCo Sets Aggressive Packaging Sustainability Goals with pep+

Good News Notes: “PepsiCo has launched an ambitious sustainability initiative called pep+, which includes goals for making the company’s packaging, products, and overall business more environmentally friendly. The pep+ initiative’s three pillars are: (1) Positive Agriculture, with a focus on regenerative practices; (2) Positive Value Chain, including net-zero emissions by 2040, becoming net water positive, and…

Kumho to use sustainable biosilica for high-performance synthetic rubbers

Good News Notes: “Kumho Petrochemical says that environmentally sustainable biosilica, extracted from rice bran, is to be used in the company’s high-performance synthetic rubbers, including S-SBR. It claims this will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 70% compared with the previous silica-based production methods. The company notes that it has recently strengthened its research…

West Lafayette improving city sustainability with new food waste collecting bin

Good News Notes: “Food waste is at the forefront for West Lafayette leaders right now. That’s because it’s helping fuel energy for city facilities, in turn, making the city more environmentally friendly. A new food waste collecting bin is really behind this movement. The bin is attached to the back of a city Streets and Sanitation Department…

Study suggests bacteria in cow’s stomach can break down plastic

Good News Notes: “Bacteria found in one of the compartments of a cow’s stomach can break down plastic, research suggests. Since the 1950s, more than 8bn tonnes of plastic have been produced – equivalent in weight to 1 billion elephants – driven predominantly by packaging, single-use containers, wrapping and bottles. As a result, plastic pollution is all-pervasive, in the…

Ecology of the Home: Upcycling Goes Russian

Good News Notes : “Altering an old shirt or putting a patch on your favorite jeans means not only saving on buying a new thing but also saving your house from clutter — and maybe even saving the environment. Four years ago Valeria Tsvirko founded the “ANTYPlyushkin” project in a St. Petersburg library communication center. She originally…