As part of our Mission Possible campaign, edie brings you this weekly round-up of five of the best sustainability success stories of the week from across the globe.
This new weekly round-up explores how businesses across the world are ramping up efforts across all areas of sustainable development
Published every week, the new series charts how businesses and sustainability professionals are working to achieve their ‘Mission Possible’ across the campaign’s five key pillars – energy, resources, infrastructure, mobility and business leadership.
This edition of the ‘Achieving Mission Possible’ round-up highlights some of the tremendous progress we are now seeing right across the globe. From a drive-thru cafe with a “living” roof to a campaign aimed at recycling two billion tonnes of beverage packaging, each of these projects and initiatives are empowering businesses and governments to achieve a sustainable future, today.
ENERGY: Senegal to build its first utility-scale wind farm this year
With the renewables revolution showing no signs of stopping, wind power continues to gain prevalence globally. Indeed, a 5% year-on-year increase in the proportion of the UK’s power which is generated from renewable sources has been largely attributed to the success of offshore wind farm projects.
Further afield, African utility Lekela recently announced that it had reached the final closure to build a large 158.7MW wind farm in Senegal – a project which is set to boost the amount of power produced by the region by 15%.
The project, called Taiba N’Diaye, is set to be fully operational by the end of 2020, with Lekela estimating that the 46-turbine facility will generate more than 450,000 MWh of energy per year.
The energy will be distributed to around two million African homes, with the firm predicting that the opening of the wind farm will prevent the emission of 300,000 tonnes of CO2e annually, compared with coal power generation.
“As the first utility-scale wind power project in the country, Taiba N’Diaye forms a critical component of Senegal’s clean energy strategy,” Lekela’s chief operating officer, Chris Ford, said. “The project will create an impact that lasts for generations.”
RESOURCES: PepsiCo Foundation commits $10m to boost US recycling rates
As consumer pressure for tackling packaging waste mounts, a number of food and drink companies – such as Costa and Coca-Cola – have recently made moves to lead the industry’s transition towards recyclability and circularity.
With plastics and packaging continuing to be some of the sustainability sphere’s most widely discussed issues, The PepsiCo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of beverage giant PepsiCo, has partnered with The Recycling Partnership in the US in a bid to drive policy alterations, recycling infrastructure overhauls and actions from the private sector to boost plastic recycling.
Due to lack of infrastructure, widely varying municipal recycling programmes and low awareness of proper recycling practices, more than half of the material that could be recycled from US households is lost. In a move to tackle the issue head-on, the Foundation is donating $10m to spur the project and is targeting a further $25m of investment from businesses, matched with $75m of municipal funding.
If the project achieves $100m of funding, PepsiCo estimates it will help capture two billion tonnes of recyclable material over the next five years, including seven billion plastic bottles and metal cans.
THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT: Starbucks achieves LEED certification for UK store with ‘living’ roof
Starbucks’ latest sustainability efforts have earned the company much media attention in the area of resource efficiency. But, turning to the built environment, the coffee chain this week announced that its newly-opened drive-thru store at Willow Tree Lane Retail Park in Yeading, West London, has achieved LEED certification.
The coffee shop is fitted with a plethora of built-in sustainability features, including a “living” green roof packed with plants, a zone-controlled heat pump and energy-efficient LED lighting. As well as conserving energy through insulation, the green roof helps increase biodiversity around the store, reduces noise pollution inside the building, and captures carbon.
There are also several electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints in the car park of the store, which is built entirely from locally sourced materials. Starbucks also insists that all waste material generated through the construction of the store was diverted from landfill and sent for recycling.
“The purpose of the new design is to redefine the drive-thru experience at Starbucks and show how Starbucks is leading the way in building more sustainable LEED-certified stores,” Starbucks’ vice president of design, Ad de Hond, said. “The store will also set a new standard for the Starbucks experience; creating genuine moments of connection for both our driving and in-store customers.”
MOBILITY: UPS developing new electric delivery trucks in the US
As more and more businesses pledge to decarbonise their fleet, logistics giant UPS has continually stood out as a leader in sustainable mobility. It operates more than 9,300 alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicles globally, including 700 hybrid-electric and 300 fully-electric delivery vehicles in Europe and the US.
In its latest mobility success story, UPS this week revealed that it has been collaborating with Thor Trucks to develop another fully-electric, medium-duty delivery truck, which it expects to deploy within its US fleet by the end of the year.
The Thor electric delivery trucks will have a driving range of approximately 100 miles and are currently undergoing a six-month trial in Los Angeles, California, to asses durability, battery capacity and technical integration potential.
BUSINESS LEADERSHIP: The Body Shop to expand Bio-Bridges scheme to Australia
Widely known as a sustainability leader in the retail sector for its ambitious global sustainability strategy, which and boasts a headline goal to become the world’s “most ethical and truly sustainable business“, The Body Shop this week announced that it would expand its Bio-Bridges scheme in a bid to protect koala bears.
The scheme, which launched in 2016, enables each transaction made in store to protect a proportion of habitat in areas which are home to endangered species – with the expansion set to preserve 750 hectares of forests near Queensland. Funding to preserve the Australian habitats will be raised through sales of The Body Shop’s limited-edition Hemp and British Rose hand creams, with £1 from each product sold going towards the scheme.
In addition to Australia, The Body Shop additionally announced a new re-wilding project in Kyrgyzstan, which will support the restoration of 400 hectares of forest through community-led programmes.
The Body Shop’s international director of corporate responsibility, Christopher Davis, previously told edie that the Bio-Bridges programme “offers a lifeline for wildlife depending on some of the planet’s most biodiverse but threatened habitats”.
Sarah George