Confronting the reality of inequitable access to recycling
Today's guest blog is authored by Deonna Anderson of GreenBiz. The original post can be read here.
Many of the systems in place today can be seen as microcosms of our larger world. Therefore, they’re impacted by the same social issues people have to deal with in their daily lives — poverty, gender inequality, racial disparities, to name a few.
Read more | Comments (0) | Mar 29, 2022
Investors take on plastic pollution
Back in 2018, the shareholder advocacy organization As You Sow launched the Plastic Solutions Investor Alliance, “an international coalition of investors that will engage publicly traded consumer goods companies on the threat posed by plastic waste and pollution.” Even casual readers of NERC’s weekly blogs are likely to be well aware of the danger to the environment posed by plastic pollution, given the prominent attention given to it in mainstream publications.
At the time of its inception, As You Sow’s Alliance consisted of 24 investment organizations with a combined $1 trillion in assets under management. As of January 14, the number of signatories has increased to 53 and the total assets under management at present exceeds $2.7 trillion, ratcheting up shareholder pressure on corporations to address the following measures:
- Transition…
Companies Need to Be More Forthright About How They Will Achieve Their Goals
Coca-Cola's press releases and goals have interesting similarities. Goals are usually set for 2025 and 2030 and are usually 25 or 50 or even 100 percent. They also lack specificity. Even more important is what they don’t say.
Report advises transition to RNG in waste and recycling fleets
A study of greenhouse gases emitted in 2019 reveals that the transportation sector accounted for the largest portion (29%) of total US GHG emissions, according to EPA. A recently published report by the New York-based NGO Energy Vision digs deeper into the specifics of the transportation sector’s greenhouse gas emissions; the report, titled The Refuse Revolution, states the following: “Waste and recycling collection trucks and other heavy duty truck and bus fleets are a vital focus. While they make up just 4% of the US vehicle population, they consume a whopping 20% of all vehicle fuel and emit nearly 25% of our transportation greenhouse gases.”
Heavy trucks like those in waste and recycling…
SWANA Probes Effectiveness of Recycling Education
The trade association focuses on education in its companion report to Reducing Contamination in Curbside Recycling.