The Globee® Awards, organizer of world’s premier business awards programs and business ranking lists, is now accepting nominations and entries for the 2021 American Best in Business Awards, which are industry and peer competition honoring achievements in all disciplines of business and work life. The American Best in Business Awards are open to all organizations with at least one or more offices in the United States of America. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. – large to small and startups, government, public and private, for-profit and non-profit – are eligible to submit nominations to the American Best in Business Awards in a wide range of categories honoring achievement in every aspect of business + work life. The SVUS Awards has rebranded as Globee Awards consisting of the same award programs + several new award programs and business ranking lists have been introduced from this year. The One Planet® American + World Business Awards has been rebranded as the American Best in Business Awards. Start the 2021 year with recognitions for all your achievements no matter how small or big and the efforts made by every individual, teams, and departments to make the future better. A judging panel consisting of industry experts from a wide spectrum of job functions and industries will determine the Globee Award winners. All nominated companies will be eligible to participate in the People's Choice Globee Awards for Favorite Company of the Year. There are many categories in which your organization and the people behind its success can be nominated for. Categories are classified under the following groups:

• Company Awards Categories
• Corporate Communications, and Public Relations Awards Categories
• Communications & Media Awards Categories
• Customer Service Awards Categories
• • Human Resources Awards Categories
  • Information Technology & Cyber Security Awards Categories
  • Marketing Awards Categories
  • Product & Service Awards Categories
  • People | Executives & Professionals Awards Categories
  • Team-Department, Project, & Outstanding Performance Awards Categories
  • COVID-19 Business Response Awards Categories
  Everyone deserves commendation for job well done. Identify, recognize, and nominate talented executives, professionals, and employees and bring out the greater best in them.

The Globee® Awards, organizer of world’s premier business awards programs and business ranking lists, is now accepting nominations and entries for the 2021 American Best in Business Awards, which are industry and peer competition honoring achievements in all disciplines of business and work life. The American Best in Business Awards are open to all organizations with at least one or more offices in the United States of America. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. – large to small and startups, government, public and private, for-profit and non-profit – are eligible to submit nominations to the American Best in Business Awards in a wide range of categories honoring achievement in every aspect of business + work life. The SVUS Awards has rebranded as Globee Awards consisting of the same award programs + several new award programs and business ranking lists have been introduced from this year. The One Planet® American + World Business Awards has been rebranded as the American Best in Business Awards. Start the 2021 year with recognitions for all your achievements no matter how small or big and the efforts made by every individual, teams, and departments to make the future better. A judging panel consisting of industry experts from a wide spectrum of job functions and industries will determine the Globee Award winners. All nominated companies will be eligible to participate in the People's Choice Globee Awards for Favorite Company of the Year. There are many categories in which your organization and the people behind its success can be nominated for. Categories are classified under the following groups:

• Company Awards Categories
• Corporate Communications, and Public Relations Awards Categories
• Communications & Media Awards Categories
• Customer Service Awards Categories
• • Human Resources Awards Categories
  • Information Technology & Cyber Security Awards Categories
  • Marketing Awards Categories
  • Product & Service Awards Categories
  • People | Executives & Professionals Awards Categories
  • Team-Department, Project, & Outstanding Performance Awards Categories
  • COVID-19 Business Response Awards Categories
  Everyone deserves commendation for job well done. Identify, recognize, and nominate talented executives, professionals, and employees and bring out the greater best in them.

The Globee® Awards, organizer of world’s premier business awards programs and business ranking lists, is now accepting nominations and entries for the 2021 American Best in Business Awards, which are industry and peer competition honoring achievements in all disciplines of business and work life. The American Best in Business Awards are open to all organizations with at least one or more offices in the United States of America. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. – large to small and startups, government, public and private, for-profit and non-profit – are eligible to submit nominations to the American Best in Business Awards in a wide range of categories honoring achievement in every aspect of business + work life. The SVUS Awards has rebranded as Globee Awards consisting of the same award programs + several new award programs and business ranking lists have been introduced from this year. The One Planet® American + World Business Awards has been rebranded as the American Best in Business Awards. Start the 2021 year with recognitions for all your achievements no matter how small or big and the efforts made by every individual, teams, and departments to make the future better. A judging panel consisting of industry experts from a wide spectrum of job functions and industries will determine the Globee Award winners. All nominated companies will be eligible to participate in the People's Choice Globee Awards for Favorite Company of the Year. There are many categories in which your organization and the people behind its success can be nominated for. Categories are classified under the following groups:

• Company Awards Categories
• Corporate Communications, and Public Relations Awards Categories
• Communications & Media Awards Categories
• Customer Service Awards Categories
• • Human Resources Awards Categories
  • Information Technology & Cyber Security Awards Categories
  • Marketing Awards Categories
  • Product & Service Awards Categories
  • People | Executives & Professionals Awards Categories
  • Team-Department, Project, & Outstanding Performance Awards Categories
  • COVID-19 Business Response Awards Categories
  Everyone deserves commendation for job well done. Identify, recognize, and nominate talented executives, professionals, and employees and bring out the greater best in them.

An update on Packaging World’s coverage of Burger King and Tim Hortons’ upcoming pilot of reusable packaging under the Loop platform includes new information from Matthew Banton, Head of Innovation and Sustainability, Burger King Global. Quick-service restaurants Burger King and Tim Hortons, both part of Restaurant Brands International (RBI), will soon be piloting a program in partnership with TerraCycle’s Loop circular packaging platform that will allow guests to specify reusable containers and cups when they order select food and beverage products. The closed-loop system will require guests to pay a deposit that will be refunded upon return of the packaging, which will then be cleaned by Loop for reuse, again and again. The initiative falls under RBI’s sustainability platform, Restaurant Brands for Good. “As part of our Restaurant Brands for Good plan, we’re investing in the development of sustainable packaging solutions that will help push the foodservice industry forward in reducing packaging waste,” says Matthew Banton, Head of Innovation and Sustainability, Burger King Global. “The Loop system gives us the confidence in a reusable solution that meets our high safety standards, while also offering convenience for our guests on the go.” Guests, Banton emphasizes, are at the center of all the decisions RBI makes. Therefore, when the company saw its guests expressing greater and greater interest in minimizing their impact on the planet, it pursued the idea of reusable packaging as one strategy. “Understanding that reusable packaging is not something that’s typical within the QSR space, we wanted to make sure we found the right partners that could help us explore the topic and also present it in a way that could be executable,” Banton says. “So, we connected with the team at Loop, and we found we had mutual interests, starting essentially with minimizing our impact on the planet. Once we agreed on those principles, it was clear the partnership made sense on both sides.” The pilot will launch in 2021 in select Burger King restaurants in New York City, Portland, and Tokyo, and in select Tim Hortons locations in Toronto. These pilot cities were chosen for two reasons, shares Banton: “One, we have amazing franchises in those locations—we have good operators and good footprints for our businesses there. On top of that, those are also markets that leverage the networks where Loop is already established, which will help maximize our ability to get into these pilots as quickly as possible.” Prototypes of the reusable packaging, which include a container for sandwiches and a beverage cup for soft drinks and coffee, were developed by RBI’s in-house design team along with one of its agency partners. Banton says the prototype is just an initial starting point; he foresees many tweaks in the coming months before the designs and materials are finalized. Considerations include what functional features will be needed, such as opening and closing and the height and width of the packaging, and how these will fit into the QSRs’ supply chain systems, how the packages can be adopted around the world, and how they can be made scalable. RBI is also targeting a minimum of 100 uses for the packaging. “Then, ultimately, it will depend on how guests adopt the program once we do the pilot,” Banton adds. The container deposit cost is also still being determined. RBI is working with Loop to identify the proper threshold to ensure the deposit is low enough that guests will adopt the program, but high enough that they will be encouraged to return the packaging. “There’s still a lot of work to do to finalize that piece,” says Banton. “I think it also goes hand in hand with the final creation of the reusable asset, because those things are intrinsically tied. So, I think they’ll come together at relatively the same time.” As for the return and deposit collection system, RBI currently envisions a system whereby when the consumer is ready to return the reusable packaging, they will scan the cup or container through the use of the Loop app, at which time their deposit will be returned, and they will place the package into a designated Loop receptacle or collection bin. The packaging will then be professionally cleaned and sanitized by Loop. Says Burger King, “Our partnership with Loop aligns with Burger King restaurants’ rigorous safety procedures around cleanliness and hygiene, all of which have become even more pressing during the current pandemic. Loop’s cleaning systems have been created to sanitize food containers and cups, meaning each will be hygienically cleaned and safe before each use.” While Banton says no one knows the future when it comes to sustainability and some of the new green packaging initiatives, RBI is testing things now to make sure its business is future-proofed. “So, will reusables be part of the future? I’m not sure. But if they are, we’ll be ready.”

  Shutterstock For companies with sustainable packaging goals, 2025 is fast approaching. That’s the year when many have pledged to become zero waste, or to use 100 percent reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging. But COVID-19 has thrown a wrench in those plans, with single-use packaging skyrocketing, low fossil fuel prices and disrupted recycling systems, already weakened by China’s 2018 plastics waste ban. Yet, at the same time, the pandemic has led to a surge in environmental and sustainability awareness by showing how much carbon emissions can drop, or wildlife can flourish, when the world’s economic engine slows down. As TerraCycle founder and CEO, Tom Szaky, put it, "The world is waking up, but the systems that are there that allow them to act are going the other way. There’s this divergence, which is a great opportunity for anyone who can bridge the gap." Bridging that gap with novel solutions and collaborations, in a race against the clock, is one of five key themes to keep an eye on for sustainable packaging in 2021.

1. A year for reckoning — and opportunity

In September, Waste Management published a report identifying gaps in the plastics recycling system, in response to shareholder pressure from As You Sow and Trillium Asset Management. The report provided a bit of a roadmap for 2021, according to Nina Goodrich, director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and executive director of GreenBlue. It was critical for helping stakeholders understand the system, the supply chain, and the role that emerging tech will play, and it "provided the environment for everyone to buckle down and say, ‘Uh-oh, how are we going to do this?’" she said. That is, how will stakeholders meet their recycling goals? Noting, for example, that the report revealed that only 30 percent of PET is collected, and most of that goes into fiber, Goodrich queried, "How does one create a system where there’s 100 percent recycled content and recyclability when you have more than one market demanding that material?" Clearly, stakeholders will have to get out of their silos and collaborate across sectors. Although it’s a challenging time, with companies’ 2025 sustainable packaging goals coming due and the recycling market in disarray, Szaky said he believes that 2021 will be an interesting year: "We’re going to see a lot of people leaning in on these topics in a way they haven’t before." For Loop, the reusable packaging platform that allows consumers to buy goods in durable packaging and return it to producers after use, that means opportunity. "It’s a pretty exciting time for us," Szaky told GreenBiz. "We’re booming."

2. Reuse models will continue to grow

Loop is fast growing, raising $25 million last year. It’s moving into quick service restaurants including Burger King, McDonald’s and Tim Hortons in 2021. "The big theme for next year is retailers are starting to do in-store quite aggressively," said Szaky. Carrefour already has begun in France. Many of the other 15 retailers that Loop works with are starting store rollouts in six countries in 2021, according to Szaky. Loop isn’t the only reusable packaging platform seeing strong growth. Algramo expanded into New York City last summer. Plenty of new reuse pilots are springing up, such as Good Goods, a New York City startup that incentivizes customers to return their wine bottles to the point of sale, or the dozens of other projects summarized in the Ellen MacArthur Foundation report, "Reuse — Rethinking Packaging." In fact, experimentation is the name of the game with reuse models, according to Kate Daly, managing director at Closed Loop Partners. "We’re very much in an age of experimentation, and need to continually interrogate what are the unintended consequences when you switch from one system to another," said Daly. "We really want to make sure that sustainable choices like reusable packaging aren’t just limited for people who can pay extra for their goods." Also key is ensuring that reusables get the longest life and largest recapture rate, and that they’re recyclable and recoverable at the end of their life. To foster learning about what works and doesn’t work, Closed Loop Partners will release a report this month on its 2020 pilot initiative with Cup Club, a NextGen Cup Challenge awardee, and its experience marketing reusable cups across multiple cafes in the Bay Area.

3. Compostable packaging finds a niche with food waste

Biopolymers and compostable materials are quickly becoming an alternative to disposable packaging, but there’s a confusing array of materials being developed. Some bio-based materials such as bio-PET are derived from biological materials, but are not biodegradable. Meanwhile, other bio-based materials such as PLA, (polylactic acid), a natural polymer made from corn starch or sugar cane, is biodegradable, although not in the way a consumer might assume it to be. To help brands and others understand the fast-evolving landscape of bio-based materials, Closed Loop Partner’s released "Navigating Plastic Alternatives in a Circular Economy." We’re very much in an age of experimentation, and need to continually interrogate what are the unintended consequences when you switch from one system to another. Among its conclusions, the report finds that compostable alternatives are not a silver-bullet solution, in part because there is not enough recovery infrastructure to recapture their full value efficiently. Plus, among the 185 commercial composting facilities that exist, many don’t accept compostable-certified packaging. "We have to rethink where composting is appropriate and where it isn’t. It is a really good solution where you have food waste," Goodrich said. Daly agrees: "What we wouldn’t want to see is any format that is being successfully recycled being converted to a compostable format when there isn’t the infrastructure possible. That would create a misalignment between the material and infrastructure that would exacerbate the challenges already in place today."

4. Extended producer responsibility takes off

Last month, the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) and Product Stewardship Association (PSI) released a joint statement calling for extended producer responsibility at the end of life for flexible packaging and paper. The statement lays out eight policy elements that could go into legislation, including a mechanism for producer funding for collection, transportation and processing of packaging, among other critical funding needs for municipal recycling facilities. "With this agreement, FPA member companies and PSI member governments, companies, and organizations have started down a path together to provide desperately needed fiscal relief for municipalities while fixing and expanding our national reuse and recycling system," said Scott Cassel, PSI’s chief executive officer and founder, in a press release. Goodrich called it "groundbreaking." Remarkably, FPA wasn’t the only industry association to step up on extended producer responsibility. The Recycling Partnership released "Accelerating Recycling," a policy proposal outlining fees that brands and packaging producers would pay that would help fund residential recycling infrastructure and education. A proposed per-ton disposal fee could be required at landfills, incinerators and waste-to-energy plants, with the revenue going to local governments for recycling programs. The American Chemistry Council also came out with a position paper supporting packaging fees across multiple material types, in addition to disposal fees to equalize the costs of disposal versus recycling. "Two years ago, you couldn’t even mention this, and now you have a series of industry proposals being put on the table. That is incredibly significant," said Goodrich.

5. Rising action to eliminate toxics from food packaging

Amazon was the latest among more than half a dozen major food retailers — from Whole Foods to Trader Joe’s to Ahold Delhaize — to announce a ban on certain toxic chemicals and plastics in food packaging materials. The new restrictions apply to Amazon Kitchen brand products sold through the tech giant’s various grocery services, but not to other private-label or Amazon brand-name food contact materials, such as single-use plates. Still, it’s a good start. And Amazon’s actions "send a strong signal to competing grocery store chains that they need to get their act together, and also tackle some of the same chemicals of concern that scientists are sounding the alarm on," Mike Schade, campaign director for Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families, Mind the Store, told GreenBiz. We really see a sense of urgency around these issues, as plastic production continues, as more and more materials are lost to landfill that we’re not able to recapture as a valuable resource. Schade has seen rising attention over the past few years on the part of both food retailers and fast casual restaurants, such as Sweet Green, towards not only banning specific chemicals, but also restricting classes of chemicals. Getting toxics out of packaging, in flexible films in particular, was also on the agenda at a 2020 RCD Packaging Innovation workshop that brought together 80 representatives from consumer brands, waste managers and the plastics industry over a nine-month period. Such attention on toxics is critical, as a comprehensive report on the health impacts of endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in packaging and other plastics materials underscored last month. Bisphenol A, phthalates, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and dioxins are among the chemicals that disturb the body’s hormone systems, and can cause cancer, diabetes and reproductive disorders, and harm children’s developing brains. Expect more food retailers and fast casual restaurants to ban or restrict endocrine-disrupting chemicals from their packaging. But, as Schade point out, those chemicals are just the "tip of the toxic iceberg." Much more work is needed to get to the larger universe of chemicals. More work is needed all around in 2021 to advance a circular economy. "We really see a sense of urgency around these issues, as plastic production continues, as more and more materials are lost to landfill that we’re not able to recapture as a valuable resource," said Daly. "And the approaches must be collaborative and systemic. None of us can do this alone."

Com a pandemia do Coronavírus, as máscaras de proteção descartáveis viraram uma grande ameaça ambiental de poluição do solo e, principalmente, dos oceanos. Apesar de contarmos com modelos reutilizáveis de máscara, é inevitável o uso de máscaras descartáveis – principalmente em um ambiente médico-hospitalar.

Even as the coronavirus pandemic challenged companies to do more to support their communities while bracing against economic upheaval, many refused to let their sustainability ambitions fall by the wayside. Case in point: These 10 brands moved a step closer to closed-loop operations this year — and their example helps to pave the way for a truly circular economy in which nothing becomes waste.

Nike rides the circular economy all the way to the Olympics

Nike launched a host of circular products this year, including a recycled-content version of the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star and an "exploratory footwear collection" made from factory and post-consumer waste. But the line of competition apparel for the Tokyo Olympics (pictured above) was arguably crown jewel in the brand's 2020 foray into the circular economy. Although the Tokyo games were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, athletes representing the U.S., France and Brazil will compete in Nike uniforms made with 100 percent recycled polyester when teams take the field in 2021, proving that circularity doesn't mean sacrificing performance.

Burger King tests reusable packaging

The fast-food chain made headlines in October with news it plans to test reusable packaging in partnership with TerraCycle’s Loop initiative. Beginning next year, Burger King will trial reusable containers for sandwiches and drinks at select restaurants in New York, Portland, and Tokyo. Customers who request reusable packaging will be charged a deposit, which is returned when cups and boxes are returned to in-restaurant collection points, where they're sanitized and put back into use. The trial is part of Burger King’s goal to source all packaging from renewable, recyclable, or certified sources by 2025 and follows rival chain McDonald’s move to test reusable cups in the United Kingdom.

Loop expands across the continental U.S.

Reusable packaging platform Loop launched in 2019, and its model of delivering mainstream products in reusable packaging has grown in popularity since then. Even as people grew wary of reusable items due to the coronavirus pandemic, Loop saw its sales surge in 2020 — and in September, its service rolled out to all 48 contiguous U.S. states. "Consumers are understandably anxious in this new world, but they still want to make purposeful purchases," Heather Crawford, Loop’s global VP of marketing and e-commerce, told TriplePundit in May. "If you can meet shoppers where they are — which is, right now, at home and online — and also establish trust in the safety and hygiene of the reuse system, even in a difficult situation, what we're seeing is that consumers still really embrace it." Used Ikea furniture is refurbished before returning to the sale floor. (Image credit: Ikea)

Ikea rolls out buyback program for used furniture

Ikea kicked off a large-scale furniture buyback program on Black Friday last month. Twenty-seven countries, including Germany, Australia, Canada and Japan, will be part of the project Ikea is calling “Buy Back.” The United States will not initially participate, though U.S. stores may join in the future, a spokeswoman said. Where available, customers can receive up to 50 percent of an item’s original price in the form of a store voucher. Items not resold will be recycled or donated to local community projects, according to the company.

Adidas unveils fully recyclable sneaker

This fall, Adidas rolled out a fully recyclable version of its Ultraboost running shoe, made from a single material without glue. The shoes were raffled off to interested consumers in October, but Adidas plans to launch a successor in a larger volume in the spring of next year. Last year the footwear giant also sold 15 million pairs of sneakers made with plastic collected from beaches and coastlines in partnership with Parley for the Oceans, with plans to up that figure to 17 million in 2021.