Today, at the Buildings Day organized during COP22 by the Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, WBCSD announced a significant expansion to its project on energy efficiency in buildings.  

• The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and its partners are launching EEB Amplify, a new phase of the project on energy efficiency in buildings, which will begin in 2017 and aims to expand to 50 cities by 2020.  
• WBCSD is proud to announce its partnership in Europe with Climate-KIC; the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) in the USA; and the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) in India.
• EEB Amplify uses a proven business-led approach methodology to develop and implement action plans on energy efficiency in buildings. This methodology is set out in the Handbook on creating dynamic local markets for Energy Efficient Buildings released today.

Marrakech, 10 November 2016: Known as EEB Amplify, the expansion will begin in 2017 and aims to include 50 cities by 2020. EEB Amplify uses a proven business-led methodology piloted in 10 cities over the last four years to develop and implement action plans on energy efficiency in buildings.

Partnerships are a key success factor in this approach, and WBCSD is proud to announce it has developed four partnerships with key partners in Europe, in the US and in India.

In Europe, Climate-KIC is joining forces with EEB Amplify through their Climate-KIC Building Technologies Accelerator (BTA). Together they will work across five cities in 2017 to boost demand for low-carbon building products and solutions (in Switzerland, France, UK, Germany and another country to be confirmed).

In the USA, EEB Amplify will work with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) to activate market activity in American cities building on the success of the EEB platform in Houston.

In India, the Green Building Council will bring the WBCSD approach to five cities - three cities in 2017 and two in 2018: Pune, Mumbai, Kochi, Ahmadabad and Goa. The goal will be to establish a local network on energy efficiency in buildings following the example of Jaipur, one of the WBCSD’s 10 pilot markets.

Buildings are one of the largest end users of energy, consuming a third of global final energy and creating a fifth of all greenhouse gas emissions. Population growth, urbanization and household wealth are all rising and energy use in buildings may double and possibly triple by 2050.  If widely adopted, current best practices and technologies could halve this amount by 2030, which will be necessary if we stand any chance to fulfill the Paris Agreement.

Eleven WBCSD member companies have invested over US$4M to demonstrate that their engagement framework can effectively increase market activity for energy efficient buildings – and promote sustainability and business opportunities. EEB Amplify will use this business-led approach, piloted in 10 markets over four years and captured in the Handbook on creating dynamic local markets for Energy Efficient Buildings released today.

Five EEB platforms have been set up so far in Houston, Warsaw, Jakarta, Jaipur and Shanghai. For instance, today the EEB platform in Poland has released a first ever benchmarking report entitled “Business for Climate. Operating Costs of Office Buildings” that will encourage transparency and data sharing among office buildings.

EEB Amplify is endorsed by the Sustainable Buildings & Construction Program of the UN 10 Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production (10YFP SBC) and will be led by WBCSD in partnership with other program partners including: LafargeHolcim, United Technologies, AkzoNobel, ArcelorMittal, Arcadis, ENGIE, Infosys, Schneider Electric, SGS, Siemens, and Skanska.

Business leadership is using market mechanisms to help solve the biggest sustainability challenges - from carbon to water, circular economy, ecosystems and a range of other complex issues. These market solutions are moving the needle in the right direction, but continue to encounter challenges in: 

Scaling Up Action and Impact

Driving Shifts in Financial Markets

Identifying & Passing Barriers to Market Solutions

Register today and join the US BCSD; Duke Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment; and leading companies like Ingersoll Rand, General Motors, Monsanto and Fairmount Santrol on January 11-12, 2017 at Duke University for hands-on work sessions on existing and emerging markets, and in identifying the priorities for new marketplace innovations.

“You have our total support,” Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Secretary Charlie Melancon pledged Thursday to a national organization attempting to restore some 1 million acres of land along the Lower Mississippi River Basin, or as Restore the Earth Foundations calls it, “North America’s Amazon”.

Melancon was a guest speaker at the Restore the Earth Foundation’s kick off activity – the planting of trees at Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area in Terrebonne Parish. Volunteers from several public and private businesses and groups participated in the effort that will eventually reach 4,000 acres planted along the coast.

“This is a great public and private partnership for a great cause,” Melancon said. He told REF officials that Louisiana will “work alongside you as long as it takes to get this done.”

The tree-planting ceremony kicked off Restore the Earth’s long range plan to restore Mississippi River Basin land which it calls North America’s Amazon. The commitment in Louisiana is part of a larger 15-year commitment to restore 1 million acres in the Lower Mississippi River Basin.

P.J. Marshall, co-founder and executive director of REF said, "To address the significant coastal wetland loss here in Louisiana, and the bigger issues of environmental degradation in the United States and around the world, we need big picture goals and diverse, collaborative partnerships which bring together visionaries from government, non-profits and companies to restore the Earth!   Its projects like these where collaboration becomes impact.”

REF says if its goals are met, the result will be: the reduction of America’s carbon foot print by 2 percent, the reversal of the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico by 12 percent; improved water quality; mitigation contaminates reaching the Gulf of Mexico; and the creation of jobs.

REFs has created partnerships with the Entergy, Shell Oil, CITGO, VMware, U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Lower Mississippi Valley Joint Venture, the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services and others.

Dozens of volunteers from REF’s partners participated in Thursday’s tree planting Groundbreaking ceremony, planting over 600 trees.

In a key strategic move for both Sustainable Surplus Exchange (SSE) and the US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), the organizations have partnered up to launch a new Materials Marketplace project in San Diego.

Sustainable Surplus, a 501 (c)(3), based in San Diego, “turns corporate excess into community assets,” according to Executive Director, Sue Prelozni. "SSE handles the internal surplus, everything from office supplies and furniture to computers and lab equipment, and redistributes them to schools, nonprofits and start-up organizations."

The Materials Marketplace aims to create a closed-loop, collaborative network of businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs in San Diego County where one organization’s waste becomes another organization’s raw material. In addition to diverting waste from landfills, the recovery activities will generate significant cost savings, energy savings, and create new jobs and business opportunities. 

San Diego joins a number of other existing and emerging Materials Marketplaces located throughout the US – Austin, Detroit, Tennessee, Ohio and others. The US BCSD targeted San Diego after learning about the parallel mission of SSE to divert still useful product from the landfill.  

“We’re thrilled to be working alongside Sustainable Surplus in this groundbreaking new project,” said Daniel Kietzer, Program Manager for the US BCSD. “Many San Diego businesses and organizations are challenging the traditional take-make-dispose model; the Materials Marketplace is an important enabler to move this new circular thinking into action.”

Local Businesses Early Adopters

Several local companies have joined the combined efforts of the organizations to launch the San Diego Materials Marketplace. Among them are Bottles and Wood, Republic Waste Management and Stone Brewing Corporation.

“It made sense for Bottles & Wood to join,” explained Zelda Waxenberg, CEO.  “We utilize reclaimed materials sourcing, mostly glass and wood, then transform the reclaimed materials into furniture, lighting, serving ware, and other products for the hospitality and décor industries.”  The B&W business model supports the circular economy and the goal to divert still usable materials away from the landfill and into the hands of community.

San Diego’s largest craft-brewery, Stone Brewing, is a leader in sustainability. “This is excellent timing to launch a raw materials marketplace in San Diego as it underlines our city’s goals toward reduced greenhouse gas emissions and zero waste,” said Pat Tiernan. “We strongly support sustainable manufacturing practices at Stone and invite the opportunity of discovering additional ways to strengthen our commitment.”

More information about the San Diego Materials Marketplace can be found at this website: http://sandiego.materialsmarketplace.org. Interested participants may contact Sue Prelozni at sue@sustainablesurplus.org or Daniel Kietzer at kietzer@usbcsd.org.

About Sustainable Surplus

Sustainable Surplus Exchange, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization, supports hundreds of educational, charitable, military and start-up organizations through the redistribution of donated surplus assets from commerce – everything from office supplies to furniture, computers and lab equipment. We reduce the carbon footprint of waste by diverting still-useful items from the landfill.

The Monarch Sustainer of the Year Award is an initiative to recognize business in supporting the long‐term viability of monarch butterflies by the U.S. Business Council on Sustainable Development and the Pollinator Partnership.

Monarchs rely on a network of nectar plants and milkweeds that stretches across North America to sustain them on their annual journey from summer breeding grounds to overwintering habitats. Many factors have fragmented the migratory corridors monarchs rely on during this journey. Helping monarchs means filling these habitat gaps to sustain the monarch migration so that generation after generation can enjoy their wonder. It also means spreading the word on the need to conserve and protect this unique insect that takes on an epic journey.

The Monarch Sustainer of the Year Award recognizes a US business that has shown exceptional leadership and action in providing habitat and awareness for monarchs along their migratory corridors. The award is a part of the Monarch Joint Venture that strategically supports the monarch through the North American Monarch Conservation Plan.

To submit an application for this award please provide a narrative and supporting documents (photographs, site, plans, outreach plans, etc.) that highlight the unique and inspiring ways in which your business is supporting monarchs and meeting the award criteria. The application package should include a completed cover sheet, a narrative highlighting how your monarch conservation program meets the stated technical and organizational criteria, and any supplementary materials that you would like to share. Please send/upload all attachments as a PDF.

Key Dates

• December 1, 2016 – Deadline for applications 
• January 2017 – Announcement of Winner

Award Criteria

To qualify for the Monarch Sustainer of the Year Award an organization must make an effort to increase and/or enhance nectar and host plants within the migratory pathways of monarchs. Activities can be focused on single localities or on multiple sites within the Pacific, Central, and Eastern migratory routes.

Technical Criteria ‐ Provide clean and safe habitat for monarchs

• Milkweed is essential and a successful monarch conservation plan cannot be developed without the right species of milkweed in the right place. Monarch caterpillars need this to survive and thrive.
• Nectar plants are needed to support adult butterflies and need to be in bloom throughout the season.
• A habitat that is free of chemical inputs and noxious weeds is also essential. Any management plans need to include integrated approaches to managing pest issues.

Organizational Criteria ‐ Take a leadership role in developing programs that go beyond habitat installations and tell us how this has changed the way you do business

• Show a clear internal program or policy for monarch support that is integrated into your green or sustainable guidelines and/or programs.
• Provide opportunities for employees and/or local community members to engage in monarch conservation activities.
• Show a record of corporate outreach and engagement within your industry to encourage monarch conservation.
• Show a record of public outreach and engagement.

Get a start on your monarch conservation program!

• Download or order monarch brochures: http://pollinator.org/monarchs.htm#brochure
• A list of great monarch garden plants (both nectar sources and regional milkweeds) can be found here: http://pollinator.org/PDFs/MonarchGardenPlants.pdf
• Technical guidelines for developing monarch habitats and conservation programs on corporate (http://pollinator.org/monarchs.htm#corporate) and utility lands (http://pollinator.org/monarchs.htm#row) are available for free
• A detailed regional list of monarch plants/locations for the migration can be found at http://pollinator.org/monarchs.htm#fueling
• Join the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge! Learn more at http://pollinator.org/mpgcmap/

Please mark your calendars for our next US BCSD meeting, which will be hosted in partnership with The Center for Energy, Development and the Global Environment (EDGE) at Duke University on January 11-12, 2017. Watch this space for more information and announcements.

Pollinator ecosystem survey uncovers corporate goals and progress to protect pollinators 

The US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) and Pollinator Partnership launched the Corporate Pollinator Ecosystem Project (C-PEP) with leading US companies to identify and quantify pollinator habitats established and maintained at various corporate properties. This project sought to uncover the total number of acres currently used as pollinator habitats on corporate lands and encourage other companies to develop acreage for pollinator habitats.

Forty percent of invertebrate pollinator species, bees and butterflies in particular, are facing extinction, according to a two-year study conducted by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. 

“We know a large proportion of pollinators face the threat of extinction; it’s what we don’t know that is more troubling,” said Victoria Wojcik, research director of the Pollinator Partnership. “Research and monitoring is essential to learn more about the challenges faced by pollinators. Efforts by individual companies to assess and enhance pollinator habitats on their corporate properties will fill gaps and provide policymakers and scientists with additional conservation tools to protect these species.”

A comprehensive survey was sent to over 20 corporations in March 2016 to collect data about existing pollinator habitats. Seventy-four sites participated in the survey, and 41 percent of respondents noted that pollinator protection is included in their corporate sustainability goals. 

This project is aligned with the national strategy to promote the health of honeybees and other pollinators and the Wildlife Habitat Council’s mission to facilitate business engagement in biodiversity and conservation. The project was co-led by Susan Kelsey of General Motors and Greg Cekander of Waste Management, Inc. 

Kelsey presented the results on June 15, 2016 at Pathways to Impact, a joint US BCSD-WBCSD-Yale University conference in New Haven, Connecticut. According to the findings, 46 of 74 responding sites are actively managing for pollinators including butterflies, moths, native bees, monarch butterflies, honey bees, hummingbirds, wasps, to name a few.

“Businesses are actively pursuing habitat improvements for pollinators, and we’re trying to challenge additional companies to become part of the process,” said Kelsey. “As more people and organizations add pollinator habitats, we can create a large quilt of connected patches of habitats for pollinators to thrive.” 

Scientists estimate that one out of every three bites of food humans eat exist because of pollinators. Corporations have a number of opportunities to improve pollinator habitat development and management. Many C-PEP survey respondents said they wanted more education on the issues within companies and the communities where they work. Some respondents said they would benefit from additional instruction on how pollinator habitats are developed and maintained. There is a clear opportunity for corporate organizations, like the US BCSD, to promote existing resources from pollinator organizations, like the Pollinator Partnership’s Monarch Habitat Development Guides for Corporate Lands. 

This survey presents a good sample of corporate leaders with sustainability commitments, particularly those with goals to protect declining pollinator populations in North America. The results of the project will be integrated into work by the National Pollinator Taskforce. 

We'd love for you to join us for our panel session at IUCN on Monday, September 5th, 7:30 to 9:30pm.

Coastal restoration is about playing offense to protect our natural capital. And there’s good news: restoration has been demonstrated to fix landscapes degraded by agricultural and industrial activity, storm surge and subsidence, and also deliver outsized environmental, social and economic benefits. 

This session will engage participants in how to unlock the billion-dollar business case for landscape scale restoration using the power of private-public collaboration and a breakthrough model.

Located in the Business and Biodiversity Pavilion. Learn more here.

Johnson’s Backyard Garden just completed a transaction to provide 3,000 ft of drip irrigation tape to our youngest (and arguably coolest) Austin Materials Marketplace participant, Ian’s Giving Garden.

Ian McKenna, 11, has started multiple “giving gardens” around town to grow and donate food to children and families in need in the Austin area. His wonderful efforts are fueled in part by grants from the City of Austin Sustainability Office, Katie’s Krops, the Sodexo Foundation, and others; and we hope to connect Ian to more and more materials resources as his work grows and expands. Great work, Ian!

A Sea Grant College Program group from Louisiana State University pulls discarded crab traps from the water in Pointe aux Chenes.

The US BCSD and Restore the Earth Foundation’s Strategic Alliance for landscape-scale restoration and a $1 million Collaborative Fund was recently highlighted in Triple Pundit.

Travel in Pointe aux Chenes, a 35,000-acre swampy marshland southwest of New Orleans, is difficult. The 680 members of the Pointe-au-Chien Tribe who call it home historically used canoes carved from native bald cypress trees – a species often compared in size and majesty to California’s redwood. Today the wetlands’s acreage is more likely to be traversed on motorboat by hunters seeking waterfowl, mink, nutria, muskrat, and Inland saltwater fish species like crabs and shrimp. That is, if they can find them, as the district’s natural resources have been under attack for years. Read more...

The project calls for $1 million in funding to restore an initial 1,000 acres at the Pointe aux Chenes Wildlife Management Area, which is owned and managed by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries. Learn more about our work in Louisiana here.

Andrew Mangan, US BCSD and Paul Nastu, founder, Environmental Leader

The Materials Marketplace was awarded "Top Project of the Year" by Environmental Leader at a ceremony in Denver, CO on June 22, 2016. The program recognizes excellence in the fields of environmental, sustainability and energy management.

The judging panel said, “This could be an extremely impactful project and it addresses a space that is of utmost importance, supply chain and material use. This is a very innovative program and great to see support from large companies in the pilot project. This is a very innovative program that has great collaboration with partner companies.”

Learn more about the awards program at environmentalleader.com

New Haven, CT – June 14, 2016. The United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) and the Restore the Earth Foundation announced their Strategic Alliance for landscape-scale restoration and a $1 million Collaborative Fund today at the US BCSD, World Business Council (WBCSD), and Yale Center for Business and the Environment meeting at Yale University. The funds will be used to restore 1,000 acres at Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area, Louisiana, the largest land area that provides the last line of defense protecting more than 250,000 people, including the United Houma Nation and Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe, from the threat of storms and land loss. The region is home to threatened and endangered species, commercial and recreational fisheries, and a rich diversity of wildlife and birds. “We have the potential to bring back essential ecosystems by investing in restoration of degraded land, forests, and coastlines,” said Restore the Earth Co-Founder and Executive Director PJ Marshall. “These ecosystems offer diverse physical, biological, and socioeconomic resources. Millions of people and businesses depend on them. Restoration can also enhance and protect the overall health, resiliency, and sustainability of local communities—especially in the face of the potentially devastating effects of climate change.”

By contributing to the Collaborative Fund, corporate partners are able to demonstrate and report on the value their investment creates. Restore the Earth’s EcoMetrics™ Model quantifies the full financial value of the restoration’s environmental, social, and economic impacts, aligned with the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC)’s Framework. Their model proves that for every $1 invested in restoration, more than $9 in value is created. Corporate partners also benefit from third-party-verified carbon, nitrogen, water, and phosphorus offsets.

The US BCSD Louisiana Water Synergy Project will serve as the platform for this joint work. The project, which began in May 2012, provides a forum for business leaders to collaborate on efforts to address water quality, quantity, and coastal resiliency. The project includes 23 companies from a wide range of industrial sectors working with Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

“Restoring our degraded lands is critical for society, for the environment, and for business,” said Susan Fernandes, Manager of the US BCSD Louisiana Water Synergy Project. “Restore the Earth has a proven track record for landscape-scale restoration and their EcoMetrics model supports the business case for these investments by providing verifiable, monetized metrics for the social, economic, and environmental value created.”

This investment is the first stage of Restore the Earth’s 15-year project to restore “North America’s Amazon,” a once-forested area that was similar in scale to the Amazon Rainforest. The restoration project will break ground in October 2016 at Pointe-aux-Chenes Wildlife Management Area.

If you are interested in learning more about the US BCSD/Restore the Earth Collaborative Fund or Restore the Earth’s EcoMetrics Model, accounting for the value of landscape-scale restoration, contact Restore the Earth’s PJ Marshall or US BCSD’s Susan Fernandes.

About United States Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD) The US BCSD is an action oriented and member-led nonprofit business association that harnesses the power of collaborative projects, platforms and partnerships to develop, deploy and scale solutions to ecosystems, energy, materials and water challenges. For more information, visit http://usbcsd.org.

About Restore the Earth Foundation Restore the Earth Foundation, Inc. is 501(c)(3) not for profit, its mission is to restore the Earth’s essential forest and wetland ecosystems, delivering outstanding environmental, social and economic returns. Restore the Earth has secured over $35 million from private and public sources and has successfully restored over 45,000 acres along America’s Gulf Coast. Today, these reforested areas have restored habitat, created jobs, and brought back the landscape’s green attributes and benefits that contribute so much to the nation’s communities and culture. To learn more, please visit www.restoretheearth.org.

About the Restore the Earth EcoMetrics™ Model The EcoMetrics™ Model measures the full value for each environmental, social and economic outcome produced by ecosystem restoration, and reports on those outcomes in monetary terms.

Restore the Earth provides a formal detailed report to funders in a format ready for 3rd party audit and in a form that accounts for intangible assets on the funder’s balance sheet to support the business case for investment. This also allows funders to take credit for GHG-offsets, water quality offsets and other environmental benefits produced, in perpetuity; and if desired, they can use the environmental offsets to mitigate the portion of their climate footprint that cannot be offset at source.

The EcoMetrics™ Model is compliant with the global standards for ecosystem services, Restore the Earth’s work creates value with outcomes that truly benefit communities by enhancing quality of life and sustaining the factors that provide for environmental, social and economic resiliency.

US BCSD Executive Director Andy Mangan presented the Materials Marketplace platform at the US Chamber of Commerce Foundation's "Better Business, Better World: Mainstreaming the Circular Economy" event on May 16, 2016. Watch Andy's presentation in the recording above, courtesy of the USCCF.

Andy makes a "call for action" at the end of the video, inviting companies, organizations and government entities to get involved in our efforts. If you're interested in learning more, join us at "Pathways to Impact: Driving Scale & Aligning Values" this June at Yale University. Four sessions and workshops will focus on the Materials Marketplace and Sustainable Materials Management; and you'll also be exposed to a number of other exciting projects and programs happening at the WBCSD, US BCSD, and Yale University. Learn more at impact.usbcsd.org.

We have an exciting mix of plenary sessions and deep-dive workshops planned for Pathways to Impact: Driving Scale & Aligning Values this June - our annual US BCSD, WBCSD and Yale University conference. Our agenda, just posted at impact.usbcsd.org will examine key sustainability drivers through the lens of existing initiatives run by the US BCSD and WBCSD, as well as from the leading academic vantage point of Yale University faculty. Learn more and register at impact.usbcsd.org.

Join us on June 14-15, 2016 at Yale University for Pathways to Impact: Driving Scale & Aligning Values

2016 is the year of implementation. Companies are putting into place the ambitious commitments they made in Paris during COP 21. They are scaling initiatives that succeeded in pilot trials last year. Businesses are figuring out what the Sustainable Development Goals mean for their industries, and aligning their sustainability objectives with these global priorities. Momentum grew during 2015 and, now in 2016, we – business leaders, financiers, risk auditors, government officials, conservationists, academics – have our boots on the ground and we’re working together to implement and scale sustainability solutions.

Multiple factors contributed to the momentum of 2016 – circular economy, climate action, climate risk & adaptation, and systemic transparency & reporting – and more will emerge over the course of this year. The 2016 US BCSD-WBCSD-Yale University Summer Conference, Pathways to Impact: Driving Scale & Aligning Values, will dive into these drivers, looking at what caused the sustainability sea change of 2015 to swell and how the big ideas are being put into action and brought to scale. We will look carefully at the hard work of 2016, with a lens toward each sustainability driver and how we expect it evolve over the next year.

[themify_button style="xlarge yellow rounded" link="http://impact.usbcsd.org" target="_blank" ]Learn More & Register Today[/themify_button]

MOMENTUM BUILDS POST-DAVOSAs you've probably seen by now, the U.S. Materials Marketplace was recognized with a prestigious "Circulars" Award at this year's World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in January, kickstarting a considerable amount of momentum for the project both in the US and around the world. Scroll down through our past postings to see recent news articles and social media activity.

SHARE THE NEWS This award is unique in that it's shared not only by our three organizations; but also by each of you as project participants and supporters. We want to help you share this achievement both within your organization and externally through your media channels and CSR reports. Contact us for a press package with badges and a brief description of the award.

PROJECT SPONSORSHIP We're asking all companies participating in the US Materials Marketplace to help offset costs for project administration, data analysis, ongoing software improvements, and program expansion with a participation fee. Three tiers of sponsorship are outlined on our website - click here for more information.

NEW REUSE IDEAS EMERGE FROM GREENBIZ CONFERENCE PVC anti-chip paste: GM has a good amount of unwanted PVC paste materials from their manufacturing processes, and Armstrong is interested in exploring the possibility of reusing this material in various flooring products (such as vinyl composition tile).

Limestone powder: Automobile manufacturers generate a paint overspray byproduct and use limestone to absorb extra paint. This byproduct is 90-95% limestone and 5-10% paint overspray. Armstrong flooring is exploring the possibility to feed this material into their production process to replace virgin filler for their flooring products.

SAVE THE DATE: JUNE 14-15 AT YALE UNIVERSITY

Move 'Ideas to Action to Scale' this summer with the US BCSD, WBCSD and Yale Center for Business and the Environment. Open up your calendars now and add June 14-15, 2016 in New Haven, Connecticut; and stay-tuned for more information as the date gets closer.

CALL TO ACTION: ADD NEW MATERIALS & NEW LOCATIONS We're looking to significantly increase the number of materials and locations in the Materials Marketplace database, which will in turn allow our team to identify more opportunities and create a greater impact. Adding new materials information and bringing more facilities online is a fairly straightforward process, and we've put together this quick tutorial to make it even easier.

We’re also moving forward toward a goal of having 100+ companies participating in the US Materials Marketplace by this time next year and will be updating you as new companies sign up.

NEW WEBSITE UPDATES We made some major updates to our project website - materialsmarketplace.org - in January 2016 to better communicate the scope of the project; share resources, news and updates; and capture new leads on new project participants. Click on the link to take a look, and feel welcomed to share it with your colleagues and linkedin connections.

MATERIALS MARKETPLACE SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENTS The Materials Marketplace software will be getting some improvements this summer as it moves ahead on a continuous improvement path. We will be in touch to invite your contributions as the software improves and evolves.

G7 ALLIANCE ON RESOURCE EFFICIENCY The Materials Marketplace is being recognized during a G7 Alliance on Resource Efficiency Workshop in Washington, DC on March 22-23, hosted by the US EPA. The event theme is the Use of Life Cycle Concepts in Supply Chain Management to Achieve Resource Efficiency. This workshop offers US Marketplace exposure at the ministerial levels in all G7 countries and will help foster dialogue about innovative practices, key challenges, and highlight areas of opportunity related to life-cycle based approaches. Stay tuned for key outcomes and action items.

US BCSD, Corporate Eco Forum and WBCSD partnership recognized for “disrupting business as usual by enabling the circular economy with data driven technologies”

20 January 2016/Davos, Switzerland: Selected from an impressive group of more than 200 entrants, the U.S. Materials Marketplace was recognized with a prestigious “Circulars” Award at this year’s World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The Circulars, the world’s premier circular economy award program, is a collaboration between the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders and Accenture and recognize individuals and organizations from commerce and civil society that have made a notable contribution to driving circular economy principles – where growth doesn’t depend on the use of scarce natural resources.

Awarded the BT Award for Circular Economy Digital Disruptor, the Materials Marketplace is a joint project of three business organizations that together represent hundreds of companies worldwide: the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), the Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Andy Mangan, Co-founder and Executive Director of the US BCSD, and Peter Bakker, President and CEO of the WBCSD accepted the award yesterday evening at an event in the UN World Food Programme Tent.

“While materials matching has been tried many times before, several developments make now a good time for tipping it toward normal business practices,” said Mangan, who has decades of experience working with businesses on sustainable materials management. “These include the growing corporate buy-in, the evolving sophistication of intelligent software and the momentum for climate change solutions coming out of the Paris Agreement.”

Participants in the Marketplace work with materials experts to comb through an online database seeking ways to reuse or exchange unwanted materials, from textile scraps to hydrochloric acid to off-spec wood flooring. Companies not only save money as they acquire cheaper raw materials and dispose of less waste, but also use significantly less energy and emit lower levels of greenhouse gases.

MR Rangaswami, Founder of the Corporate Eco Forum, praised the companies who led the charge: “The Materials Marketplace is an amazing example of what companies can do when they collaborate. The pioneering companies who sparked this initiative have paved the way for hopefully hundreds of more companies to reduce their footprints and move toward more circular business models.”

The Marketplace is developing a tiered cooperative model that would allow for big and small marketplaces to share their outcomes. As other countries implement their own marketplace programs, this co-op structure would connect them while allowing participants to retain control and ownership of their country’s data and activities. WBCSD’s Global Network, comprising of 70 national business councils would help facilitate the expansion.

Peter Bakker, President and CEO of WBCSD, sees enormous promise in the Materials Marketplace model: “Business has a critical role in making the transition to a sustainable and thriving economy. New business models based on the principles of circular economy will accelerate this shift allowing companies that use them to capitalize on new economic opportunities. The Materials Marketplace is a clear demonstration of this potential as it turns waste into an engine for creating value. With support from WBCSD’s Global Network, we will work towards replicating this model around the world.

Founding companies in the Marketplace include Alcoa, Armstrong World Industries, BASF, CH2M, Dow Chemical, Essroc, Fairmount Santrol, General Motors, Goodyear, Greif, LafargeHolcim, Nike, Novelis, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Swisstrax, Tetra Pak, Veolia and Waste Management.

For more information, visit https://thecirculars.org

Eight Austin entrepreneurs will compete for a $10,000 innovation prize on December 9th.

The finalists are competing to present the best idea – and business concept – that repurposes a byproduct from a local organization into a viable business with social benefit.

The [Re]Verse Pitch Final Competition will be from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Dec. 9 in the Bass Lecture Hall at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, 2300 Red River St. The event is free and open to the public. RSVPs requested. Austinites may vote for their favorite idea by 5:00pm on Dec. 9th by signing up for a free account or through a handful of social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.

The top five vote-getters will earn “People’s Choice” points added on top of the judges’ scoring.

“We are thrilled to see so many [Re]Verse Pitch concepts that solve for real needs in the community and reduce waste at the same time,” said Bob Gedert, Director of Austin Resource Recovery. “We encourage Austinites to check out the ideas and vote.”

Ideas range from re-purposing waterproof clog shoes into safer slip-resistant high heels and using leftover vinyl for new products like backpacks.

“Challenging and enabling entrepreneurs to work with hard-to-recycle materials is a key step in the evolution to a circular economy in Austin – one where locally generated waste becomes the new engine for creating value,” said Daniel Kietzer with the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development.

Proposals for spent grains, a brewery byproduct, include “brewnola” granola bars and “brew biscuits” for dogs. And what could possibly be done with a room-full of wicker baskets? Find out by browsing the proposals. KXAN interviewed each of the finalists this morning, which you can view on their website.

[RE]verse Finalists

Eight finalists will pitch their ideas at the final competition Dec. 9:

• Sue Sende Cole, Working with Wicker (repurposing wicker baskets)
• Santiago Diaz, Austin Building Materials Depository and Working Space (repurposing books, spent grain, vinyl banners, water proof clogs, canvas, and decorative glassware)
• Joe Diffie, The Table to Bacon Feed Company (repurposing spent grain)
• Aaron Pierron, Non-container Glass Recycling (repurposing decorative glassware)
• Melissa Rothrock, Calling All Seamstresses (repurposing vinyl banners)
• Cory Skuldt, Brew Biscuits Expansion (repurposing spent grain)
• Renata Sturdival, Safe Innovative Heels (repurposing vinyl banners and waterproof clogs)
• Brandon Ward, Brewnola Bars (repurposing spent grain)

Judging will be based on business viability, sustainability impact, economic impact and social impact, along with effectiveness of pitch delivery.

Background

The [Re]Verse Pitch Competition is a one-of-a-kind social innovation program to turn valuable raw materials that are currently leaving local businesses, nonprofits and institutions as waste into the foundation of new social enterprises. The first-ever “reverse pitch” Nov. 3 drew more than 85 social entrepreneurs and Austinites at Vuka to hear pitches from local businesses and nonprofits that have materials up for grabs.

The [Re]Verse Pitch Competition is a collaboration between the City of Austin, the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development, Impact Hub Austin and the RGK Center for Philanthropy and Community Service with additional support from a wide variety of community partners. Learn more at ReversePitch.org.

Project selected from an international pool of candidates in the “Circular Economy Digital Disruptor” category

Nationwide, December 1, 2015: The United States Materials Marketplace project, a groundbreaking company-led “waste-matching” initiative led by the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), was selected as a finalist in The Circulars Awards 2016 under the “Circular Economy Digital Disruptor” category. The Circulars, the world’s premier circular economy award program, offers recognition to individuals and organizations from commerce and civil society across the globe that have made a notable contribution to driving circular economy principles.

The project, piloted in the summer of 2015, sought to assess the feasibility of a national “Materials Marketplace” to match traditional and non-traditional industrial waste streams with new product and revenue opportunities. 23 major companies participated in the first phase of the pilot, representing 78 industrial facilities across the U.S. The project plans to expand to over 100 participating organizations in the US, and scale to other regions through combined organizational networks by the end of 2016.

The results reveal significant opportunities to eliminate corporate waste and by-product streams. From June through August 2015, participants uploaded 2.4 million tons of underutilized materials to the marketplace, and sought 59 materials via a unique “wishlist” function. The Marketplace team, leveraging more than two decades of experience, recommended 68 matches and initiated 19 transactions.

A comprehensive report presenting the outcomes, challenges, lessons learned and path forward for the U.S. Materials Marketplace pilot is available at http://materialsmarketplace.org.

By participating in the Materials Marketplace, companies can lower operational costs and waste disposal expenses while reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions. Additionally, they will spend less for raw materials, create new business opportunities and jobs to implement them, and join a respected collaborative network of diverse like-minded companies that are eager to explore new pathways to more efficient production and environmental protection.

Companies participating in the 2015 U.S. Materials Marketplace pilot project include: Armstrong World Industries, CH2M, BASF, Dow Chemical, Essroc, Fairmount Santrol, General Motors, Goodyear, Greif, LafargeHolcim, Nike, Novelis, Procter & Gamble, Swisstrax, Tetra Pak, Veolia, Waste Management, and others. In 2014, these companies accounted for over $600 billion U.S. in revenue, operated over 600 facilities in the U.S., and employed over 1.7 million people worldwide.

New report details early results and outlines a path forward for a national-scale Materials Marketplace

Today, the U.S. Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) announced the results of a groundbreaking company-led “waste-matching” initiative. The project sought to assess the feasibility of a national “Materials Marketplace” to match traditional and non-traditional industrial waste streams with new product and revenue opportunities. 23 major companies participated in the first phase of the pilot, representing 78 industrial facilities across the United States.

The results reveal significant opportunities to eliminate corporate waste and by-product streams. From June through August 2015, participants uploaded 2.4 million tons of underutilized materials to the marketplace, and sought 59 materials via a unique “wishlist” function. The Marketplace team, leveraging more than two decades of experience, recommended 68 matches and initiated 19 transactions.

A comprehensive report presenting the outcomes, challenges, lessons learned and path forward for the U.S. Materials Marketplace pilot is available at http://materialsmarketplace.org.

Andrew Mangan, founder and Executive Director of the US BCSD, likens the process to pulling open curtains that have long been closed. He summarizes the vision of the project, “The increasing pressure on our natural resources sends a clear message: we need to find value in discarded materials. Growing cross-industry collaboration for the efficient use of our resources opens up new business opportunities while creating economic, environmental, and societal benefits.”

Added Amy O’Meara, Director of the Corporate Eco Forum, “The pilot clearly demonstrated that an expanded U.S. Materials Marketplace with hundreds of companies reusing their material flows could significantly reduce the waste currently going to landfills. With increasing numbers of companies aspiring to more circular business models, the Marketplace also plays an increasingly important convening role for likeminded business leaders.”

Peter Bakker, President and CEO of the WBCSD, said “The Materials Marketplace project pilot has revealed major economic opportunities for companies to close material and waste loops. In collaboration with our 70 Global Network Partners across the world, we will identify ways to bring these projects to scale and accelerate the transition to a circular economy.”

The project received a major boost from the early and enthusiastic enlistment of General Motors and Nike. In recent years, General Motors has generated nearly $1 billion in annual revenue through reuse and recycling of its by-products, which enabled the corporation to avoid releasing 10 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions in the atmosphere.

In January 2016, the pilot will be extended for another three months to finish transactions in progress and recruit additional companies. By participating in the Materials Marketplace, companies can lower operational costs and waste disposal expenses while reducing energy consumption and GHG emissions. Additionally, they will spend less for raw materials, create new business opportunities and jobs to implement them, and join a respected collaborative network of diverse like-minded companies that are eager to explore new pathways to more efficient production and environmental protection.

Companies participating in the 2015 U.S. Materials Marketplace pilot project include: Armstrong World Industries, BASF, CH2M, Dow Chemical, Essroc, Fairmount Santrol, General Motors, Goodyear, Greif, LafargeHolcim, Nike, Novelis, Procter & Gamble, Swisstrax, Tetra Pak, Veolia, Waste Management, and others. In 2014, these companies accounted for over $600 billion U.S. in revenue, operated over 600 facilities in the U.S., and employed over 1.7 million people worldwide.

ABOUT THE US BCSD: The US BCSD is an action-oriented and member¬-led business association that harnesses the power of collaborative projects, platforms and partnerships to develop, deploy and scale solutions to ecosystems, energy, materials and water challenges. US BCSD activities are designed to generate economic returns and address environmental and societal challenges. The US BCSD is one of 65 national councils affiliated with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

ABOUT THE WBCSD: The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), a CEO-led organization of some 200 forward-thinking global companies, is committed to galvanizing the global business community to create a sustainable future for business, society and the environment. Together with its members, the council applies its respected thought leadership and effective advocacy to generate constructive solutions and take shared action. Leveraging its strong relationships with stakeholders as the leading advocate for business, the council helps drive debate and policy change in favor of sustainable development solutions.

The WBCSD provides a forum for its member companies - who represent all business sectors, all continents and a combined revenue of more than $8.5 trillion, 19 million employees - to share best practices on sustainable development issues and to develop innovative tools that change the status quo. The council also benefits from a network of 70 national and regional business councils and partner organizations, a majority of which are based in developing countries.

ABOUT THE CORPORATE ECO FORUM: The Corporate Eco Forum (CEF) is an invitation-only membership organization comprised of Fortune and Global 500 companies from 18 industries with combined revenues of over $3 trillion. CEF’s mission is to help accelerate sustainable business innovation by creating a neutral “safe space” for influential business leaders to strategize and exchange best-practice insights. Participants are exclusively top-level executives, including chief sustainability officers, chief financial officers, and chief technology officers, and other VP-level executives with responsibilities affecting the supply chain.