DUBAI, UAE — April 10, 2019 — Purecog, a Dubai-based company focused on minimizing waste and maximizing resource efficiency, has launched an initiative to assess and reduce the harmful and costly plastic footprint of organizations within the tourism, hospitality and healthcare sectors, in the Middle East.

Championing the transition to a Circular Economy, Purecog advocates a cost-effective and regenerative approach to resource management; in contrast to the traditional linear model, which has a ‘take, make, dispose’ attitude to production and use.

Since 1950’s, around 8bn tons of plastic (that’s 800,000 Eiffel Towers) has been produced, only 9% of which has been recycled. It’s easy to see how this figure has accumulated, with 2m plastic bags and 1m plastic bottles bought and used around the world, every single minute. The majority of this plastic ends up in landfill sites or the ocean, killing 1.1 million animals annually. It is statistics like these, which led to an overwhelming vote by members of the European Parliament, to ban all single-use plastics in Europe, by 2021.

By pioneering single-use, thin-film plastic replacement products such as water-soluble polymer shopping bags at the resource end, and upcycling technologies at the waste management end, Purecog is able to work closely with an organization, first auditing and reporting on the single-use plastic footprint in all areas, then offering practical solutions to improve not only a company’s green credentials, but more significantly, its bottom line.

Speaking on the subject Paul Gandy, operations director at Purecog, said: “Our team have a history of leading change, globally, in the field of sustainable business. That puts us in a uniquely advantageous position, ahead of the curve regionally, to assist a wide range of entities in the inevitable move towards a circular economic system, through knowledge sharing and problem solving.”

It is for these reasons that Purecog has brought together a world-class of team of sustainable business experts, to deliver the triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit.

Posted April 10, 2019

Source: Purecog

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — April 10, 2019 — Automate, North America’s largest showcase devoted to automation industry trends, leading-edge technology and business innovation, is moving to Detroit. The biennial Automate Show and Conference, colocated with Promat in Chicago since 2011, has grown to more than 500 exhibitors, over 20,000 attendees and 1,000 paid conference registrants. The move for the next event, which will take place May 17-20, 2021 at Cobo Center, was announced last night at the Automate 2019 “Moving to Motown” networking party in Chicago.

“To continue our rapid growth, and better meet the needs of our exhibitors who look to Automate to reach new potential customers, we’ve decided that now is the right time to move Automate to its own location — and Detroit is an ideal fit,” said Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), the show’s organizer. “Detroit is turning into the next major technology hub in the United States. This is an exciting change for us and our exhibitors, allowing Automate to expand in size and technology scope as the automation industry continues its steady growth.”

Named one of Lonely Planet’s top cities to visit in 2018, Detroit is transforming. Over the last few years, studies from the Brookings Institution have rated Detroit No. 4 on a list of the country’s hubs for advanced technology employment, with nearly 15 percent of the workforce in the Detroit-Warren-Dearborn area working in areas such as research and development and engineering. Though known as a traditional automotive hub, the region is growing in other industries such as aerospace, logistics and advanced mobility.

“We’re very excited that Automate will be moving to Detroit in 2021,” said Mike Cicco, president and CEO of FANUC America, a supplier of robotics and automation based in Rochester Hills, Mich. “It’s evident that Michigan is quickly regaining its strength as a manufacturing and technology powerhouse, and we’re proud that our headquarters has been in the Detroit Metro area since 1982.”

“Detroit is so pleased to be welcoming Automate to our destination in 2021 because it makes sense for a region whose future success is dependent on new technology improvements and automation for the making and delivering of products and services,” said Larry Alexander, president and CEO of the Detroit Metro Convention & Visitors Bureau. “Our hospitality community will roll out the welcome mat in our vibrant city for the 20,000+ attendees of Automate.”

Posted April 10, 2019

Source: Association for Advancing Automation (A3)

BENTONVILLE, Ark. — April 10, 2019 — Today, at its 2019 sustainability milestone summit, Walmart announced that for the first time, checkout carousels at its U.S. stores will include reusable bags that will be available to customers for purchase. The aim of this new campaign is to help reduce plastic waste and increase customer convenience by placing reusable bags in easy to find and highly frequented sections of its stores. As part of the launch, Walmart is rolling out a new assortment of reusable bags that are made with post-consumer recycled content.

The new reusable bag initiative will begin rolling out to stores next month and follows a recent announcement by Walmart on a series of plastic waste reduction goals that seek to advance the sustainability of the retailer’s private brand packaging by making it 100 percent recyclable, reusable or industrially compostable by 2025.

This year’s milestone summit also featured announcements and updates on several other sustainability initiatives. For example, the event marks the two-year anniversary of Project Gigaton, a platform in which Walmart is working with suppliers to avoid 1 billion metric tons, a gigaton, of emissions from global value chains by 2030. As part of the summit, Walmart Canada announced it is joining Project Gigaton, making it Walmart Inc.’s third international market to work with suppliers towards emissions reductions.

In the first two years of Project Gigaton, many suppliers are already delivering results on their goals and report avoiding more than 93 million metric tons of emissions toward the one gigaton goal. Emissions totals are calculated in accordance with Walmart’s Project Gigaton Accounting Methodology. In an effort to make it easier to enlist more suppliers to the growing total of over 1,000 suppliers participating in the platform, Walmart also announced that it would publish its Project Gigaton Calculators, which are designed by Walmart and NGOs for suppliers to use in reporting progress toward the Project Gigaton goal.

“We are encouraged by the engagement of our suppliers in Project Gigaton,” said Kathleen McLaughlin, senior vice president and chief sustainability officer for Walmart Inc. “To achieve our ambitious climate goals, we aim to expand and deepen that engagement. The progress to date shows how companies can contribute to climate action through practical actions all along the product supply chain. Ultimately, building sustainable supply chains requires collective action from everyone — not only our associates and suppliers, but customers, business in general, and civil society. We are excited to be part of the solution.”

Reinforcing Commitment to Sustainable Textiles

During the milestone summit, Walmart shared an update on its responsible sourcing work alongside NGOs, industry groups, governments and suppliers, with the aspiration to improve the lives of workers in the global apparel supply chain with a particular focus on women. Walmart also shared new sustainability goals for apparel and soft home textiles within Walmart U.S. stores, including:

• Sourcing More Sustainable Fibers: Walmart will increase the use of recycled polyester fiber, setting a goal of using 50% recycled content by 2025 and to source 100% more sustainable cotton.
• Reducing Manufacturing Impact: By 2022, Walmart U.S. stores will source apparel and home textile products only from suppliers working with textile mills that use the Sustainable Apparel Coalition’s Higg Index Facility Environmental Module (FEM) to measure and help improve environmental performance. Walmart will also prioritize sustainable chemistry, setting a goal to reduce the discharge of priority chemicals from the textile manufacturing process.

Progress in Electric Vehicle Charging Station Expansion, Renewable Energy Leadership

Walmart continues to make progress in its efforts to increase the availability of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at it stores and clubs across the U.S. As of 2018, Walmart has EV chargers available at retail locations across 29 states.

Walmart also outlined its progress towards its aspirational goal of being powered by 100 percent renewable energy – and to power 50 percent of its operations with renewable energy by the end of 2025. Over the past year, Walmart completed contracts for 136 new solar and wind projects, which will supply the company an additional estimated 2.14 billion kilowatt hours of renewable energy annually – the equivalent electricity usage of over 260,000 homes in a year.

Posted April 10, 2019

Source: Walmart Inc.