To promote plastic recycling, the Ministry of Environment's Resources and Waste Management Agency (NRMA) announced on the 9th that plastic container products that meet the three key elements of green design—single material, simple color, small labeling, and use at least 25% recycled content—will receive up to a 30% discount on plastic recycling and disposal fees. The new preferential rates are expected to be completed by the first half of 2024 and implemented in the second half of the same year. Environmental groups believe that promoting recycled containers is the most effective way to reduce resource consumption and carbon emissions. Front-end design must consider back-end recycling and processing. The Ministry of Environment (formerly the Environmental Protection Administration) announced the "Key Points for Promoting Recycled Plastic Products for Non-Filled Food Products" at the end of 2022, encouraging companies to use recycled materials. To date, nine types of recycled plastic products have passed review. The NRMA is now introducing a preferential "green rate" program for plastic container products, encouraging companies to voluntarily adopt green design or use recycled materials. Green design requirements include using a single material, a simple color or transparent color, no labeling, or a label height less than/equal to 30% of the bottle height. In terms of using recycled materials, it is necessary to pass the Ministry of Environment's non-filled food plastic recycling product promotion operation points and the Ministry of Health and Welfare's PET recycled polyester pellets for food container packaging. If either requirement is met, a 15% discount on the original rate will be available; if both requirements are met, a 30% discount will be available. Xu Xiangrui, manager of the Plastics Industry Technology Development Center, said that a single material will be more difficult to recycle than a single material.

The European Parliament voted against further tightening carbon emissions standards for combustion engines, dealing a setback to the EU's green agenda. However, the parliament also agreed, for the first time, to regulate microplastics produced by tires and brakes. The parliament argued that further tightening of vehicle emission standards would lead automakers to invest more in developing more efficient combustion engines rather than electric vehicles, contradicting the goal of achieving net-zero emissions. Alexandr Vondra, a member of the European Parliament who actively promoted the vote, told the Financial Times that stricter regulations would have a devastating impact, making cars unaffordable for many European consumers. Furthermore, the limits on microplastics, primarily from tires and brakes, would also apply to electric vehicles. The parliament stated that it would work towards legislation to further reduce microplastic emissions by 27% by 2030. Green groups strongly condemned the vote, emphasizing that the parliament's vote and consensus barely contribute to environmental progress. MEPs will continue negotiations with member state governments to reach consensus on the final legislation. It is expected that national governments will adopt a weaker stance than the parliament on regulations for combustion engine vehicles. Reference: Financial Times

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak criticized previous carbon reduction plans as simply "headline-grabbing" and too costly, deciding to postpone them. On September 20th, at 10 Downing Street in London, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, standing at a podium adorned with a banner reading "Long-term decisions for a brighter future," dropped a bombshell. He announced that the ban on gasoline vehicles would be postponed for five years, to 2035, because the target imposed "unacceptable costs" on the public. This sharp policy shift, or even a step backward, triggered a full-scale backlash from climate campaign groups, political opponents, and industry. That same day, King Charles III, known as the "Climate King," made his first visit to France, promoting climate finance and biodiversity. Sunak's own UK climate minister was in New York attending the UN Climate Ambition Summit. The news left both men feeling awful. Sunak: Replacing gasoline cars with electric cars will shrink the economy. Sunak blasted on the podium that Britain's past carbon reduction plans were just for "grabbing headlines" but were ill-considered and not fully debated. He said that in order for people to replace their old fuel cars with electric cars, they must be convinced that this is the right thing to do and that they can afford it. Faced with the current price increases and economic shrinkage, "at least now, it should be you as a consumer who makes the choice, rather than the government forcing you to do so." He appealed to voters. Sunak and the Conservative Party will face a general election next year, and current polls show that they are lagging behind their Labour Party. Therefore, some people questioned whether he was making a show for his re-election campaign to please voters, but this was denied. He said that the UK

Apple stated at the Reuters NEXT conference held in New York on November 8 that it would not pass on the costs of its consumer product carbon reduction efforts to consumers. Apple Vice President Lisa Jackson noted that Apple, with a market capitalization of approximately $2.8 trillion, is the world's most valuable public company, and that Apple hopes to demonstrate a path to corporate growth that can also be applied to other companies. Jackson emphasized that Apple wants to demonstrate that it can achieve carbon reduction goals through strategies such as using clean energy and recyclable materials in its manufacturing processes, and gradually change the image of ordinary companies that can continue to grow because they are Apple. Jackson also admitted that even Apple faces many challenges in calculating, disclosing, and reducing carbon emissions. For example, even though the latest Apple Watch has reduced carbon emissions by 78% compared to the previous generation, each Apple Watch still has approximately 8 kilograms of carbon emissions from transportation and logistics that need to be eliminated. Jackson also mentioned that Apple will continue to work with smaller suppliers to promote the recycling of rare earth and other materials. Reference: REUTERS

In the future, the Starbucks you buy will still feature the classic mermaid logo, but it will no longer be using disposable cups. From August 14th to October 22nd of this year, 12 Starbucks stores in Napa and Petaluma, California, are piloting a reusable cup program. Reusable cups will be provided in-store, and customers can also bring their own cups to receive discounts and rewards. The Associated Press reported that Starbucks ultimately plans to phase out disposable cups by 2030 and expand its reusable cup rental service globally. Saying goodbye to disposable cups in 2030: According to The Messenger, Americans use approximately 130 billion disposable cups each year, approximately 50 billion of which are coffee cups. Starbucks' disposable cups have become a part of consumers' lives, but in a few years, Starbucks will completely phase them out. In fact, the Associated Press reported that Starbucks said as early as 2008 that it hoped that all cups would be recyclable or reusable by 2015, but the goal is still far away. Starbucks pointed out that since the circular economy is the future trend, Starbucks is gradually phasing out disposable plastics, supporting the use of recycled materials, and promoting recycling. Starbucks is preparing to expand the recycling cup service to more branches and learn how to use convenient, easy and interesting ways to encourage consumers to give up disposable takeout cups and use recycling cups instead. Starbucks hopes that by 2030, the carbon footprint and usage will be reduced to

Danish toy giant Lego launched a program in 2021 to recycle plastic bottles into building blocks. After two years of experimentation, Lego recently announced that the recycled plastic process has a higher carbon footprint, which runs counter to the company's goal of reducing carbon emissions by 37% by 2032. However, the company remains committed to finding other sustainable materials suitable for building blocks. The goal is to eliminate the use of petroleum-based plastic building blocks. Plastic bottles were once a hope. Lego produces approximately 60 billion building blocks annually, primarily made from petroleum-based ABS plastic. ABS plastic has a high gloss, high stability, and is easy to process and paint. It is widely used in products such as toys, cars, and home appliance casings. However, the production process of ABS plastic is also very energy-intensive. The Financial Times reported that approximately 2 kilograms of oil are needed to produce 1 kilogram of ABS. According to Fast Company, Lego set a goal in 2012 to completely eliminate petroleum-based materials in its building blocks by 2030. "We believed it wouldn't be that hard to find this magical new material," Lego CEO Niels Christiansen told the Financial Times. "But we tested hundreds of materials and just couldn't find the right one." Lego began testing various plant-based bioplastics in 2018, but no good news came out. In 2021, it was finally announced that plastic made from recycled PET bottles might be a fantastic new environmental solution. Unfortunately, after two years of testing, this new

Since May of this year, Hilton Hotels has added carbon labels to its menus at major UK hotels in cities like London, Liverpool, and Ritz, helping guests make a more positive environmental impact while dining. The initiative, which has been implemented across its hotels, has revealed strong customer engagement with low-carbon diets, leading Hilton to offer more low-carbon options on its autumn menus. Hilton partnered with climate sustainability consultancy Klimato to implement this initiative, labeling each dish on the menu as low, medium, or high carbon, based on its carbon footprint. Since its launch in May, the program has shown an increasing popularity for low-carbon dishes, demonstrating that carbon labels help customers make informed choices. Based on this finding, Hilton continues to develop more low-carbon dishes to offer a wider range of options. The recently released autumn menu already features 85% of dishes with a low or medium carbon footprint. To improve the carbon footprint of its menus, Hilton also strives to source ingredients locally in the UK, using locally raised, low-carbon chicken, salmon, crab, beef, mushrooms, tarragon, celery, and plant-based meats to create a wider range of low- and medium-carbon options. Source: Business Traveller

On October 9th, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill (Senate Bill No. 253) requiring companies in California with annual revenue exceeding $1 billion to report their greenhouse gas emissions. This bill compels major California-based companies, including Apple, Disney, Meta, Intel, and HP, to disclose their carbon emissions. Under the newly passed bill, the California Air Resources Board will establish a carbon emissions reporting system for regulated companies by January 2025. The state government initially estimates that over 5,300 companies will be affected. Required companies will be required to publicly disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions starting in 2026, and Scope 3 carbon emissions starting in 2027. In addition to the California state government, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is also developing federal regulations requiring U.S. publicly listed companies to report their carbon emissions to combat corporate greenwashing. However, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said these regulations will increase business operating costs and are difficult to implement in practice. Source: BBC

The corporate craze for net-zero emissions and carbon neutrality has fueled the booming voluntary carbon market (VCM), reaching a market value of $2 billion in 2021. However, two recent reports indicate that the VCM experienced its first contraction in seven years in the first half of 2023, shrinking by 6%-8%. This may be bad news for developing countries relying on carbon trading to finance climate adaptation. The carbon trading market saw its first decline in the first half of 2023, with major brands like Nestlé withdrawing investment. Net-zero carbon emissions targets have become a global trend. However, business operations inevitably produce carbon dioxide. Purchasing carbon offset credits—buying others' carbon reductions to offset one's own emissions—has become a method for companies to achieve carbon neutrality. Voluntary carbon markets, which facilitate the buying and selling of carbon credits, have emerged in response. Reuters reports that the VCM market is growing rapidly, reaching a market value of $2 billion in 2021. Shell and the Boston Consulting Group predicted earlier this year that the market could reach $10 billion to $40 billion by 2030. However, the voluntary carbon market has recently faced headwinds. A Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) report shows that demand for carbon offsets fell by 6% in the first half of 2023. Documents from consulting firm Ecosystem Marketplace also show a downward trend over the same period.

Will the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology impact water resources? While sufficient research data is currently unavailable, there are indications that the development of AI will consume significant amounts of water resources. Even simply asking questions to the AI ​​chatbot program "ChatGPT" requires water. According to the Associated Press, OpenAI, a US AI research lab backed by the multinational technology company Microsoft, uses large amounts of fresh water to cool its powerful supercomputers, which are essential for the operation of AI models like ChatGPT. Business Insider explains that regardless of the type of AI model being run, the training process consumes significant energy and generates considerable heat, and water effectively reduces the temperature of the associated equipment. The primary reason for using fresh water over seawater is that the salt content in seawater can cause corrosion, bacterial growth, and clog internal pipes in AI equipment. The Associated Press also pointed out that Microsoft's water sources for developing artificial intelligence are mostly obtained from the Raccoon River and Des Moines River basins in central Iowa, but few people know that OpenAI

Resale company Trove and Worldly, an influential sustainability advocacy platform in the fashion industry, jointly released a research report titled "How Can Circular Models Support Fashion Brands' Sustainability Strategies?" The report states that circular models can help improve the fashion industry's carbon emissions. First, the report notes that resale is a key decarbonization strategy, particularly for high-end and outdoor brands. This is primarily because promoting resale can reduce the need for new product production by 23% to 35% annually, helping brands reduce their carbon emissions by 15% to 16% by 2040 while also enabling brands to achieve their growth goals through resale. Second, the fashion industry should strive to improve the efficiency of resale to enhance the aforementioned sustainability benefits. Specifically, brands can enhance the durability of their products, increasing their value in the resale market and thereby increasing the emissions reduction benefits of a circular model. Third, through resale, brands can more effectively control and manage Scope 3 carbon emissions, improving the sustainability of their operations. Trove CEO Gayle Tait stated that this research report confirms that resale can improve the fashion industry's carbon emissions. Therefore, Trove will continue to help brands and the fashion industry achieve sustainable development by improving resale efficiency.

In recent months, the German government has been trying to find alternative ways to save its heavy industry from the impact of high energy prices, which have hindered Germany's progress towards its goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2045. High energy prices have led to a shift in production to Asia. For example, last year, chemical giant BASF announced it would invest £10 billion in a new plant in China due to energy costs. In response, the German government will launch a £200 billion Climate Transition Fund to invest in green technologies and subsidize projects affected by the ban on new gas boilers next year. However, some power plants have had to restart to cope with reduced Russian gas supplies, allowing some coal-fired plants to receive subsidies. Meanwhile, Germany is opposing EU proposals on climate and other environmental requirements. The German automotive industry has successfully mitigated the EU's ban on gasoline and diesel vehicles from 2035 by allowing internal combustion engines to use synthetic "e-fuels" made from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. How did Germany, Europe's most ambitious nation on net-zero emissions, become a laggard? For years, Germany relied heavily on cheap Russian gas and struggled with renewable energy. Despite the impact of the Russo-Ukrainian war, Germany still shut down three nuclear power plants ahead of schedule in early 2021. However, with energy prices currently high and wind and solar power unable to provide sufficiently cheap and reliable energy to replace all fossil fuels, the inevitable result will be that more and more German industrial production capacity will be transferred to South Asia.