BLOG
Driving Impact through Knowledge & Innovation
Featured
Driving Impact through Knowledge & Innovation
Five women at Sustainable Solutions Corporation provide insights into how they are accelerating action in sustainability and empowering positive global change with our clients:
We asked six of the SSC women of STEM to share a glimpse into their lives, both inside and outside of work, through personal photos and reflections. From career milestones to individual passions, these women are breaking barriers and making a meaningful impact.
In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Tanya Nesbitt, Partner at Thompson Hine, to discuss the evolving landscape of climate regulations and litigation; specifically California Senate Bills 253 and 261, Assembly Bill 1305, and the SEC Climate Disclosure Rules. Tanya explains the rise in climate-related lawsuits, the growing scrutiny around voluntary carbon offset disclosures, and the complexities of corporate sustainability reporting. Tune in to learn how these emerging legal challenges could impact your organization’s sustainability initiatives and reporting practices.
When developing your company’s Scope 3 program, it is critical to train and educate your sourcing and procurement teams. In this episode, Tad and Julianna discuss the key role your sourcing and procurement teams play in your Scope 3 program, how to bring these teams up to speed on sustainability and Scope 3, how to empower your sourcing and procurement teams to optimize your supplier engagement program with the goal of gathering primary data, and more.
Difficult-to-manage waste streams are a hurdle for corporations to overcome in their pursuit of reducing waste. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Hannah Julian, Environmental Project Coordinator at g2 revolution, to discuss g2's work with managing materials that are traditionally difficult to recycle, managing pre-consumer and post-consumer waste, working with retailers and manufacturers to establish recycling programs for their materials, giving materials a second life through their Second Life® Solutions, working with small businesses in the beauty sector through their brand GLO™, the drivers behind pursuing and achieving GreenCircle certification, and more.
New regulations as well as commitments and requirements from large companies are pushing suppliers to set science-based targets. In this episode, Tad and Julianna discuss an overview of science-based targets, the new regulations and what they mean for companies, the growing number of companies that are beginning to require their suppliers to set science-based targets by 2025, how suppliers can start taking inventory of their GHG emissions, the importance of training your sourcing and procurement teams, the benefits of measuring and reducing your Scope 3 emissions, the number of team members you will need internally to gather the data necessary for setting science-based targets, and how to know when to outsource and ask for help.
Many companies have started to think about measuring and reducing their Scope 3 emissions. The truth is most companies often feel overwhelmed by the scale of this effort and don’t know where to start. In this episode, Tad and Julianna discuss what Scope 3 emissions are, the top Scope 3 category for most companies, how to help your suppliers reduce their carbon emissions, and how to start estimating your company’s Scope 3 emissions from your suppliers.
Textile waste is the fastest growing waste stream in the United States. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Raymond Randall, Sr. Manager of Textile Recycling at WM, to discuss what WM is doing to drive circularity with textile waste, why textile waste is such a big problem for both the environment and for business, how fast fashion plays a role in textile waste, the textile recycling program at WM, and more.
Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), Environmental Product Declarations (EPD), and Product Carbon Footprints (PCF) are essential to reducing your company’s carbon footprint, but many companies have unanswered questions about the process for completing them. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with LCA experts Nicole Meyer and Marquis Miller from Sustainable Solutions Corporation to answer some of the most frequently asked questions they receive about LCA, EPD, and PCF. They discuss the data collection process, timelines, what to include in your LCA, relevant standards and frameworks, Product Category Rules, functional units, how LCA, EPD, and PCF relate to carbon footprint, and more.
A good marketing plan should include communication about your company’s sustainability efforts. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Suzanne Shelton, CEO of Shelton Group, an ERM Group Company, to discuss the consumer research studies Shelton Group has been conducting for the past 17 years, the results of their recently published report The Buzz on Buzzwords: Seven Years Later, the biggest challenges companies have in marketing their sustainability efforts, best practices for communicating sustainability goals and achievements such as third-party certified products and facilities, how companies should handle not hitting a goal, and more.
Many companies have been purchasing carbon offsets to achieve their Net Zero goals. Are carbon offsets right for you and your company? Are carbon offsets actually effective and how should they be used? In this episode, Tad and Julianna answer these questions and discuss decarbonization, science-based targets, and the steps in the decarbonization roadmap. Tad also explains what carbon offsets are, the standards and requirements for carbon offsets, and what the future could look like for carbon offsets.
Optimizing product packaging is essential for reducing waste and driving the circular economy. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Kelly McBee, Circular Economy Sr. Coordinator at As You Sow, to discuss the mission of As You Sow, the Corporate Plastic Pollution Scorecard they developed to rank companies on their progress toward plastic goals, how companies can get better scores in the future, why third-party certifications are so important to the achievement of corporate plastic reduction goals, and what’s next for As You Sow.
Setting a decarbonization strategy requires an understanding of your operations. Sustainable Solutions Corporation (SSC) conducts Sustainable Operations Assessments (SOA) to help companies understand how to reduce their energy, water and waste. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Lora Urbaniak, Senior Project Manager at SSC, to discuss what an SOA is, how SSC uses SOA to help companies set their decarbonization strategy, the cost savings and benefits of an SOA, areas where SSC usually finds the biggest potential for dollar savings, and how SOA can help a company meet their sustainability goals or science-based targets.
Recycling lithium-ion batteries is the key to achieving electrification goals. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Joe Day, Commercial Manager – Midwest and Northeast Regions at Li-Cycle, to discuss how Li-Cycle manages batteries at the end of their life, the type of batteries they take at their facilities, how much lithium, nickel, and cobalt are able to be recovered and integrated back into new batteries, how the battery recycling process works, and how Li-Cycle collects their batteries. We also answer an audience question at the end of the episode about extended producer responsibility.
Aluminum is an infinitely recyclable material and an important part of the circular economy. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Suzanne Lindsay-Walker Vice President, Sustainability, for Novelis Inc., to discuss the type of products that Novelis’s aluminum ends up in, the life cycle benefits of aluminum versus other materials, how aluminum is contributing to the circular economy, Novelis’s closed loop system with Ford Motor Company and Ball, the key focus areas in Novelis’s sustainability strategy, the value of their GreenCircle Recycled Content certifications, and how Novelis empowers their employees to embrace sustainability.
As Earth’s population grows, building construction and maintenance will continue to increase. Building products present one of our greatest opportunities for circularity. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Dennis Wilson, VP, ESG & Managing Director, Saint-Gobain Circular Economy Solutions NA, to discuss his priorities in his new role as Managing Director of Circular Economy Solutions, the key focus areas for CertainTeed/Saint-Gobain’s sustainability activities, how they’re reducing their company’s carbon footprint and minimizing the embodied carbon in their products, and the path toward circularity for building materials.
Sustainable Product Innovation (SPI) is the key to driving new product development teams toward developing more sustainable products. In this episode, Tad and Julianna discuss an overview of the new product development process that most companies go through, explain how SPI works, the steps companies need to take to integrate SPI into their new product development process, and examples of companies that have had success with SPI.
Have you ever wondered if we can actually achieve circularity? In this episode, Tad and Julianna discuss the basics of the circular economy, whether or not it is actually achievable, if it is possible for a product to be 100% closed loop, and what changes need to be made in order to achieve the circular economy on a large scale.
25% of the global carbon emissions come from the food industry. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a great tool that can be used to help reduce the carbon footprint of the food we produce. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Mark Izzo, Co-founder and CEO of Bright Future Foods, to discuss Bright Future Foods and Airly Foods, how significant the food industry’s carbon emissions are, how Airly is using food to reduce climate change, carbon-converting farms, the use of LCA to reduce the carbon footprint of Airly crackers, regenerative agriculture, and what’s next for Airly Foods.
Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) are the key to conquering carbon. In this episode, Tad and Julianna discuss what an LCA is, how to use an LCA to understand the impacts of raw materials in products, and how organizations can use the information they get from an LCA.
Manufacturing cars can produce a ton of waste. Reducing manufacturing waste is essential for all companies in order to decrease environmental impact and save money. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Denise Coogan, Environmental Partnership Manager for Subaru of America, Inc, to discuss Subaru’s journey to reducing waste, how they got their employees on board with their zero waste to landfill journey, how they are supporting National Parks in minimizing their waste, how they have helped Subaru Park, the home of the Philadelphia Union, become the first Major League Soccer (MLS) stadium to achieve zero waste to landfill status, and what’s next for Subaru.
Climate change is a significant issue for everyone on the planet. Reducing embodied and operational carbon is critical to reversing global warming. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Lisa Conway VP of Sustainability, Americas for Interface, to discuss Interface’s commitment to sustainability, why carbon is so important in the building industry, Interface’s carbon neutral and negative products for carpet and Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT), Interface’s GreenCircle certifications, and what’s next for embodied carbon in products.
According to the World Green Building Council’s Global Status Report 2017, the building industry accounts for 39% of the world’s carbon emissions. One way to reduce these emissions is to install sustainable doors and hardware. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Amy Musanti Director of Sustainability for ASSA ABLOY, to discuss ASSA ABLOY’s sustainability journey, how ASSA ABLOY is optimizing their products to be more sustainable, the sustainability compass they use in their new product development process, their 150+ GreenCircle certifications, and what’s next for the building industry.
35% of food produced in the U.S. is thrown away, while 42 million Americans struggle with hunger. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Sunny Reelhorn Parr, Head of Philanthropy at Kroger and Executive Director of The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, to discuss Kroger’s focus on tackling hunger and food waste, keys to success for solving the food waste problem, The Kroger Co. Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation, and the Innovation Fund.
Reverse vending machines help contribute to the circular economy. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Mike Noel, Governmental Affairs Manager at TOMRA, to discuss how reverse vending machines work and how they contribute to the circular economy, how regulatory trends are creating risks and opportunities for businesses, the core pillars of TOMRA’s business, and how TOMRA’s sensor-based sorters are reducing carbon emissions related to mining.
The global footwear market is a multi-billion dollar industry that has a huge carbon footprint. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Andy Polk, Senior Vice President at the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA), to discuss FDRA’s sustainability and innovation working groups, how FDRA is working with members to drive product innovation in footwear, how you can access FDRA’s Digital Shoe Sustainability Summit, and more.
Most companies have various assets that need to be managed regularly, and proper management of these materials can actually contribute to the circular economy. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Tom Fecarotta, Chief Marketing Officer at Rheaply, to discuss Rheaply’s approach to asset management and Total Resource Efficiency, documenting and measuring the embodied carbon savings from material reuse, how material reuse contributes to the circular economy, and how to get started with Rheaply’s platform.
Achieving carbon neutrality is an essential goal for every company. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Tim Faveri, Vice President, Sustainability & Shared Value at Maple Leaf Foods, to discuss Maple Leaf’s vision of becoming the most sustainable protein company on Earth, how Maple Leaf became a carbon neutral company, their focus on food insecurity, how they have been able to push their social and environmental initiatives down to their suppliers, why they chose to pursue a GreenCircle Certified Sustainability Facts label, and what the future looks like for food.
Measuring and managing Scope 3 emissions presents greater challenges than Scope one and Scope 2 emissions for many companies. Scope 3 emissions usually represent the greatest contribution to a company’s emissions profile. In this episode, Tad explains what Scope 3 emissions are, how a company can start to understand them, and how companies can reduce their Scope 3 emissions.
Designing recyclable packaging is essential for achieving a circular economy. In this episode, Tad and Julianna sit down with Steve Alexander, President and CEO of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR), to discuss the importance of the APR PCR Certification program, APR’s Design Guides for plastics recyclability, APR’s mission, the benefits of being an APR member, the necessity for recovering plastics, and the growing trend of polypropylene collection.