Open Innovation
Traceability: The Path towards More Sustainable Supply Chains
In the improvement of sustainability practices, there is still massive potential in the supply chain. For example, according to CDP, if suppliers to 125 multinationals were to increase their renewable electricity consumption by 20%, over a billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions could be saved: equivalent to the combined emissions of Brazil and Mexico. Nevertheless, only 23% of tier-1 suppliers are engaging on emission reduction activities with their own suppliers. Evidently, business processes such as planning, sourcing, producing, and logistics require restructuring and redesigning. One of the factors that can play a major role on enhancing efficiency and optimization in the supply chain is improving traceability: the ability to track and monitor all steps involved in the development of a finished good, from the procurement stage of raw materials to production, consumption all the way to the disposal of goods.
Evolving Materialities for the Construction Sector
The construction sector is a continuously growing industry led by rising urbanization and global population increase: In 2050, about 68% of the world’s population will live in urban areas. These trends will increase the pressure for construction companies to improve the durability and efficiency of their infrastructures. Incorporating new digital technologies will be key to face these challenges in the future.
Algramo Develops Refill Business with Unilever
In the outskirts of Santiago, inexpensive food is very hard to come by. There are only few supermarkets, and the food at local stores is typically priced 30-40% more expensive than normal. Chilean based startup Algramo has developed a solution to address this challenge. Founded in 2012, the company is solving economic and environmental issues through its vending machines. Algramo dispenses staple products, like grains, rice, beans, lentils, and sugar “by the gram” (al gramo) to low-income customers. Now partnering with Unilever and others, the company has developed a reusable packaging solution for household cleaners and detergents.
Circular Economy in Motion: the Mattress Market
Worldwide, the mattress market is estimated at a sizable €23 billion. In line with global growth of our population, this market has been predicted to further grow with annual 6.5% between 2017 and 2024. With almost 90% of all mattresses produced in the EU containing between 2 and 15 kg of hard-to-recycle polyurethane foam each and increasing pressures from legislation, mattress manufacturers are starting to lose sleep over finding less impactful solutions.
Movember: Facial Hair That Creates True Impact
The Movember movement has grown from a conversation on the come-back of the mustache to one of, if not the, largest men’s health movement with a support of over 5 million people, having raised a total of $900 million since 2003. In this article we take a closer look at this well-groomed initiative.
Powering Sustainability with Open Innovation
Changing market dynamics, rapid technological growth, and stakeholder pressure to find solutions to today’s toughest challenges requires companies to constantly evolve and develop new practices – if they want to stay competitive. There is no denying that every company can benefit from looking outside its own boundaries to come up with bold, new, and sustainable ideas. However, the search for open innovation and its integration into the company context needs to be done right to drive sustainable business transformation.
Pinpointing The Potential of Sustainable Innovation
In order to better understand customer requirements and to encourage firms to generate Many Alternative Sustainable Solutions (MASS) in developing sustainable innovations, Explore Your Customore was created; a toolbox with a set of inspirational cards with proven innovation methodologies.
Vale Takes Mining into the Circular Economy
A first of its kind circular project was announced in June 2018, originating from the research from an engineer and executive MBA graduate at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland (EPFL). The project aims to help Vale, the world’s largest iron-ore mining company, transform residue into resource. It does that by extracting untapped value from its mine tailings by transforming it into new products. Concurrently, sand consumption around the world is increasing faster than supplies are naturally able to replenish, making it one of the most coveted resources behind fresh water. This forms a great opportunity for Vale as its mine tailings high in quartz can be used in many sand-based products. In a conversation with Finch & Beak, project initiator and leader Emile Scheepers explains how thinking differently about the product life cycle allowed him to uncover this new opportunity.
How Interface Makes the Circular Economy Come to Life
As one of the world’s sustainable business pioneers, Interface knows what it’s like to change a company’s strategy from a traditional approach towards a focus on sustainability without sacrificing business goals. In the mid 1990’s, the company pivoted away from the traditional industrial model of modular carpet production towards a business model focused on sustainability. By 2017, Interface focuses on innovation in circular business models by closing the loops in its business operations. High time to take a closer look.
