Philips smashes sustainability targets

BusinessGreen.com staff, BusinessGreen, Monday 22 February 2010 at 14:30:00

Electronics giant sets new goals for green product sales after hitting initial target three years ahead of schedule

Electronics giant Philips today announced it generated almost a third of its revenue from "green products" last year, reaching its target for sales of energy efficient and environmentally friendly technologies three years ahead of schedule.

The company reported it had generated 31 per cent of revenue from "green products" in 2009, and was set to achieve its target of investing €1bn in the development of green technologies before the end of this year.

It also said that it was well positioned to meet its target of improving operational energy efficiency by 25 per cent.

The company classifies products as green using an internal scoring system that analyses their energy efficiency, packaging, hazardous substances, weight, recycling and disposal, lifetime reliability. For a product to be regarded as " green" it has to boast a better score, by at least 10 per cent, in one or more of the metric areas when compared to a competitor equivalent or predecessor product.

Rudy Provoost, chairman of Philips' Sustainability Board and chief executive of the company's lighting division, said the fact targets set out in 2007 had been reached in around half the time scheduled "shows that sustainability truly is a driving factor in Philips' business strategy".

The announcement came as Philips debuted its latest EcoVision5 strategy, featuring a range of new environmental targets for 2015 including an eye catching commitment to improve the energy efficiency of its overall product portfolio by 50 per cent. …

Philips smashes sustainability targets

Technorati Tags: green manufacturing,green economy

Wal-Mart cranks up pressure on suppliers to deliver greener products

James Murray, BusinessGreen, Friday 17 July 2009 at 12:31:00

Retail giant launches Sustainability Index initiative to map the environmental impact of its products

Wal-Mart yesterday launched a major new green initiative that will eventually see the retail giant provide sustainability rankings for all its products worldwide.

Announced at a major meeting of 1,500 of its suppliers and staff at the company's headquarters in Bentonville, Wal-Mart said the new Sustainable Product Index will aim to provide a single source of data for assessing the environmental performance of different products.

The company's president and chief executive Mike Duke said the initiative was in response to increased demand from customers for information about products' sustainability.

"Customers want products that are more efficient, that last longer and perform better," he said. "And increasingly they want information about the entire life cycle of a product so they can feel good about buying it. They want to know that the materials in the product are safe, that it was made well and that it was produced in a responsible way." …

Wal-Mart cranks up pressure on suppliers to deliver greener products

Technorati Tags: green manufacturing

Making solar panels sustainably: Niagara Falls to power new Solarworks plant

What is the ultimate green solar panel?

A true-green solar panel must have the following characteristics: design life of major components of equal length (functionality lasts as long as the shortest-lived component); renewable energy used to produce the energy-intensive materials as much as possible (silicon slices, backsheets, aluminum frames, etc.); green chemistry used to produce components and adhesives; and, finished panels easy enough to disassemble that recycling is cost-effective. With that as background, I have good news on one of the four listed precepts. The New York State Power Authority has "awarded a large block of low-cost hydropower to a fledgling California company that plans to build a plant in Western New York to manufacture solar panels." …

Making Solar Panels Sustainably: Niagara Falls To Power New Solarworks Plant

Technorati Tags: solar power,green manufacturing