Paper Industry Announces 2023 U.S. Paper Recycling Rates Using Updated Methodology

Bluestone Energy Services and Ahold USA are increasing their energy conservation initiative in 2015 by expanding the reach of projects to touch stores in all regions and to increase the energy savings in new projects while also continuing to improve the efficiency of existing projects. In 2014, Bluestone Energy’s supermarket division completed comprehensive energy efficiency projects in partnership with Ahold USA and its retail stores, including upgrading all of the interior lighting at the store level to new LED lighting with advanced wireless controls. This high-efficiency lighting installation reduced the lighting consumption in the stores by over 70%. In addition to reducing the energy profile of the stores, the lighting systems enhance the customer experience through improved light levels as well as light quality.

Visitation at U.S. National Parks may potentially increase with increasing temperature in temperate areas, but may decrease with temperatures rising over 80 degrees Fahrenheit, according to a study using future climate and visitation modeling scenarios published June 17 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Nicholas Fisichelli and colleagues from U.S. National Park Service. Climate change may affect not only natural and cultural resources within protected areas, but also park tourism. To assess the relationship between climate and park visitation, the authors of this study evaluated historical monthly mean air temperature and Park service visitation data (1979-2013) at 340 parks, ranging from Guam to Alaska, and projected potential future visitation (2041-2060) based on two warming-climate scenarios and two visitation-growth scenarios.

Global sustainable food packaging leader Huhtamaki is donating €600,000 to fund a project that aims to stop the flow of plastic into the Indian Ocean from the Mithi River in Mumbai, India. The project is one of three initiatives that Huhtamaki has funded as part of its 100-year anniversary to address global sustainability challenges and build and learn from circular economy initiatives globally. The Mithi River project is run by a global partnership between the United Nations Technology Innovation Labs UNTIL, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, RiverRecycle and Earth5R. Each partner has a unique role in the project which seeks to use emerging technologies to collect plastic waste from the river and raises awareness on effective waste management in order to drive systemic change locally. The project is also focused on developing ways to valorize waste, e.g. by turning it into valuable fuels, chemicals, bio energy and bio fertilizers.