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Cause-driven changes are affecting the food and beverage market

Bambi Majumdar Food & Beverage

The food and beverage industry is witnessing a significant shift in strategies. Most leading brands are focusing in part on cause-driven strategies for future business growth. We recently discussed how changing consumer habits are driving growth for specialty sodas. Beverage giants and traditional food producers are feeling the heat of these changes while smaller players are adapting fast.

The environmental rule changes that will impact us the most

Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & Environmental

Even the most diligent climate change policy trackers are having a hard time keeping abreast of recent changes at the federal level. Apparently, the replacement of Scott Pruitt with former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not yielded new results when it comes to the big environmental picture. So far, 46 environmental rules have been overturned by the Trump administration, with another 30 proposed rollbacks waiting in the wings. The EPA itself is responsible for one-third of these changes.

California fires still burning, new report anticipates more

Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & Environmental

As California fires still burn, the state has released its fourth Climate Change Assessment, a report that surveys the scientific data and governmental action on climate change preparedness. While today’s environmental news sounds terrible, there’s more to come. By the end of the century, we will witness a 77 percent increase in volume of burning acres. These are just wildfire predictions. There are also anticipated problems with drought, beach erosion, and rising ocean levels to contend with — according to the report.

Study: Human waste could be resource-rich fertilizer for global agriculture

Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & Environmental

Well, if this isn’t a load of … then nothing is. But, that’s what we’re talking about: human waste. While the subject is often taboo, human waste actually is full of nutrients that can be recycled into products to promote agricultural sustainability and better economic independence for some developing countries. Used properly, our own waste may be nothing more than the animal manure that makes the foods we grow so abundant, and our gardens so strong and attractive.

Can bioplastics help solve the world’s plastic disposal problem?

Bill Becken Engineering

The world’s conventional polymers, derived from petroleum feedstocks, have outstanding benefits, such as durability, convenience and low costs. But they are largely unsustainable. It has become a consensus: Plastics are having a materially distressing, foreboding impact on the environment. Sustainable polymers (aka bioplastics) address those shortcomings while trying to maintain conventional polymers’ incredible, undeniable virtues. To have newer, sustainable plastics match those traits, at the same cost, will be a tall order. But maybe, just maybe, it can be done.

Court rules against EPA’s stalling of new chemical safety regulations

Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & Environmental

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received a lot of negative coverage lately due to the antics of the agency’s former head, Scott Pruitt, and the EPA’s historic role in reversing decades of environmental regulations, such as car emissions standards and the Endangered Species Act. While it’s not the most ecologically enlightened time period, there’s good news out there for people who fight for cleaner environmental standards. For example, last week the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the EPA’s efforts to block implementation of new chemical plant safety rules by 20 months.

Trace pharmaceuticals seen in water, food supply across the country

Dr. Denise A. Valenti Pharmaceutical

Drugs of all kinds are in the foods you might eat and the water you drink. Most recently, even private well systems were found to have traces of pharmaceutical products in the water. A 2015 study that assessed rivers near urban areas in the United States for the presence of active pharmaceutical ingredients found 20 percent of the 182 sites sampled had at least 10 of the 46 compounds sampled. The widespread use of opioids has also impacted the water supply, and this has impacted the food we consume. Mussels harvested from the Puget Sound in Washington state have tested positive for trace amounts of oxycodone.

Researchers: Food systems must be overhauled, but obstacles are many

Scott E. Rupp Food & Beverage

Agriculture and food policies must be more than just the supply of food, and decision-makers in the industry must "make a paradigm shift to align policies about climate, agriculture and food with the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development." So says a group of international researchers who have penned a new review article in the journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development, the official journal of the French Institut national de la recherche agronomique (INRA).

Dying man awarded $289 million as Monsanto faces more lawsuits

Michelle R. Matisons Science & Technology

Over the years, more and more people have come to know the name "Monsanto" as synonymous with new industrial agriculture and genetically modified food. As a company, it is responsible for many products perceived as dangerous, including Roundup, the notorious weedkiller. Lawsuits have always grown around Monsanto like untreated weeds, but the courtroom tide is turning in favor of the public. Recently, a 46-year-old California school pest control manager with non-Hodgkin lymphoma won a $289 million settlement against the company.

The benefits of a white roof

Scott E. Rupp Facilities & Grounds

Is your organization too cool for a cool white roof? Probably not, but there’s a pretty good chance such an office amenity is one of the furthest things from your mind. It’s never too late for a look at the top of your organization’s home base to do the world a little good, though. If management is looking for innovations to bring more sustainability to the organization, a little white paint may go a long way.

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