Case Studies

Seventh Generation: Activating Climate Innovations by “Cashing Out of Carbon”

A Circularity case study

A Sustainability Strategy case study

Even though the world is adding clean, renewables at record levels, global energy demand is growing so fast that fossil fuels are filling the gaps. Leading consumer brands, including Patagonia and Seventh Generation continue to push the boundaries of corporate climate leadership to re-examine their own climate impacts and take a stand for climate justice and a fossil-free future .

MilliporeSigma Partners with Sterilis Solutions and Pure Strategies to Reduce the Volume and Environmental Impact of Plastics for Customers

A Circularity case study

It is estimated that the life science industry produces over 5.5 million tons of plastic every year. Plastics are used in 80-90 percent of medical supplies, ranging from personal protection equipment, pipettes, tubes, test kits, toxicology screening items, sharps, and others. Because medical waste is highly regulated, plastic components cannot be easily recycled. Instead, they are typically autoclaved and landfilled, burned for energy production (called waste-to-energy, or WtE), or incinerated without energy capture. These disposal methods carry emissions, energy use, and other impacts to the planet.

Pure Strategies Launches Carbon Footprint of Regeneratively Produced Rubber, Partnering with Terra Genesis and Regenerative Rubber Alliance

A Climate case study

While many benefits of regenerative agricultural practices are well known, the impact to carbon emissions is challenging to measure, and emission factors for many regeneratively grown crops simply do not exist. Developing a custom greenhouse gas (GHG) measurement could help suppliers understand the carbon footprint of regenerative practices and help demonstrate climate benefits and environmental impact. To meet this need, Terra Genesis and the RRA enlisted the climate and life cycle assessment expertise of Pure Strategies to conduct a full carbon life cycle assessment of their regenerative natural rubber production model.

Toyota Motor North America Prioritizes Biodiversity

A Nature case study

Major automotive maker, Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), is looking to do its part to reverse the impacts of human activity that have accelerated biodiversity loss. This is why its 2050 ambitions include “living in harmony with nature.” The company worked with Pure Strategies to help develop specific goals and plans to progress toward its nature goals.

Sephora advancing sustainable sourcing and waste reduction

A Circularity case study

Sephora's environmental sustainability efforts focus on strategies for suppliers, climate, and ecodesign. Pure Strategies helped the company develop a baseline for packaging and in-store materials and waste, understand materials usage and environmental impacts across different business activities.

Restaurant Technologies Defines its Climate Strategy

A Climate case study

As a leader in circular solutions for cooking oil, Restaurant Technologies (RT) set out to advance its climate strategy and engage its food service customers along the way. As a cooking oil supplier to leading food service brands, RT’s Total Oil Management solution manages the full cooking oil life cycle – from delivery of fresh oil, to restaurant filtration, monitoring oil levels, and end-of-life recycling of used oil.

Walmart’s Recycling Playbook

A Circularity case study

Walmart was one of the first retailers to establish goals for private brand packaging to be 100% recyclable, reusable, or compostable and for its plastic packaging to include recycled content. Being a leader meant that Walmart was asking new things of many of its suppliers. Further, its internal team needed guidance on how to progress on the new environmental goal. Pure Strategies helped the company clarify and communicate expectations, internally and externally, and develop tools for suppliers to take the next steps on this important journey.

Ahold Delhaize USA advances sustainable chemistry

A Safer Chemicals case study

With emerging science on the potential health and environmental impacts of materials, and consumers looking for products with ingredients that they trust, companies have been committing to removing chemicals of concern from their products beyond relying on regulatory guidance. Ahold Delhaize USA, the largest grocery retailer group on the East Coast, took this step and in their work was the first major retailer in the U.S. to make a commitment to address potential contaminants in products and the latest food packaging concerns.

MilliporeSigma Working to Advance Packaging Sustainability

A Circularity case study

Merck KGaA has a purpose at its core, to pass the company on to the next generation better than they found it. To support this, the life sciences business unit of Merck KGaA, MilliporeSigma established a leading Design for Sustainability program for its products and services. In this work, it became clear that a similar approach for sustainable packaging was needed. Being a global leader in life sciences with a diverse and vast product offering, with over 300,000 items, the company knew that finding an actional and meaningful business-wide approach for sustainable packaging would be challenging.

Perrigo Oral Care’s Strategic Approach to Sustainable Packaging

A Circularity case study

Perrigo is committed to making the world a healthier place not only with their product offerings, but also through recognizing their impact on the environment and striving to be a good corporate citizen. The company’s Oral Care business saw an opportunity to look at product packaging from this lens. However, the business did not yet understand its starting point and improvement opportunities. An added challenge stemmed from there being different business drivers for its product portfolio, some of which are private brand and the rest that is their own/national branded items.

Everlane Sets Ambitious Science-Based Targets, Aiming for Net-Zero by 2050

A Climate case study

With Everlane’s mission to “empower people to live their best lives with the least impact on the planet — and leave the apparel industry cleaner than we found it,” the clothing and footwear company set out to establish ambitious climate targets. Despite the company’s leadership efforts in supply chain transparency and ethical sourcing, analyzing substantial amounts of data and defining the appropriate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets were challenging on many levels.

Seventh Generation: Aspirations & Targets

A Circularity case study

Seventh Generation started a consumer revolution to nurture the health of the next seven generations thirty years ago. Since then, the mission-driven company has introduced non-toxic cleaning and home care products to tens of millions of consumers. Today, the company continues to transform the industry through sustainability-driven innovation in ingredient transparency, circular packaging, and plant-based and chlorine-free products.

Ben & Jerry’s: Carbon reduction goal

A Climate case study

Famous as a global ice cream company, Ben & Jerry's is also known for its formidable environmental and social justice mission. The company is pursuing an ambitious strategy that includes investing in renewable energy, putting a price on carbon, working throughout its value chain, and activating citizens around the world to engage their governments in the conversation.

MegaFood

A Sustainability Strategy case study

MegaFood, a fellow certified B Corporation, launched initiatives to support ingredient transparency, engage key farm partners on environmental and social sustainability, and address nutritional access disparities in northern New England. To achieve their bold vision while continuing to grow market share, MegaFood brought Pure Strategies on to help bring their initiatives together under a more scalable and quantifiable sustainability strategy.

The North Face: Communicating through powerful stories, robust data and compelling graphics

A Climate case study

A corporate sustainability report (CSR) is more than a means of communicating success and gaining program visibility. A CSR report can provide a powerful, yearly opportunity to assess current initiatives. Companies can benchmark efforts against a global standard, evaluate progress against stated goals, and consult with stakeholders on their priorities as part of this process.

Walmart aims to reduce its chemical footprint

A Safer Chemicals case study

As a leading retailer advancing sustainable chemicals management in its products and supply chain, Walmart is the first retailer to participate in the Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) survey and set a target to reduce its consumable chemical footprint. Pure Strategies worked with Walmart to update its policy and leverage the CFP survey.

Walmart: Embedding sustainability in a vast supply chain

A Pure Strategies case study

Pure Strategies started working with Walmart in 2011 on its Sustainability Index, several years after the company announced its intention to leverage deep change within its supply chain. Aware that 90% of the company’s impact rests in its upstream supply chain, global retailer Walmart initially engaged its suppliers through a generic version of the Index in 2009. The Walmart Supplier Sustainability Assessment (SSA) Scorecard signaled the company’s intention to drive improvements by asking suppliers 15 questions about topics such as climate and energy, waste and materials, and people and community.

Annie’s Inc.: LCA reveals carbon impacts of representative products

A Climate case study

Annie’s Inc. was founded in 1989 with a mission to provide families with healthy macaroni and cheese. Over the years, it has built a loyal and growing following among consumers who also value its commitment to socially responsible practices.

Engaging Organic Valley’s supply chain to improve environmental performance

A Sustainability Strategy case study

Organic Valley has deep roots in finding more sustainable ways to produce organic dairy products, soy milk, produce, and healthy snacks. The cooperative saw an opportunity to build on that legacy by reaching across its supply chain and encouraging continuous improvement in environmental and social performance.

RM2 leverages Life Cycle Assessment to drive product innovation and business value

A Pure Strategies case study

Conducting a Life Cycle Assessment early in the product development process helped RM2 improve product sustainability and gain business value.

Sustain: Building a Net Positive company from the ground up

A Pure Strategies case study

Sustainable condoms are the audacious idea of entrepreneur Jeffry Hollender. Hollender came up with the idea of developing a non-toxic, fair trade condom under the brand name Sustain. After all, condoms have tremendous intrinsic social and environmental benefits – they reduce population growth and its associated environmental impact and prevent the spread of disease.

Chemical Footprint Project assessment tool promotes safer chemicals

A Safer Chemicals case study

The Chemical Footprint Project aims to boost safer chemicals by providing a common framework for assessing companies’ chemical management practices.

Rockline Industries: Ambitious goals help meet customer expectations

A Pure Strategies case study

Rockline Industries is the largest supplier of coffee filters and private label baby wipes in North America. When high-profile customers like Walmart, Starbucks and Seventh Generation began requesting sustainability data and improvements, the family-owned, private-label manufacturer needed to get ahead of the curve.

EMD Millipore: Product sustainability studies and tools help developers design for the future

A Pure Strategies case study

EMD Millipore, the life sciences division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, provides the biopharmaceutical industry with products used in the creation of the life-saving drugs and treatments we’ve all come to depend on. Building products in this environment requires EMD Millipore to meet exacting quality standards. The company applies the same technical rigor to its corporate responsibility programs, especially in its drive toward sustainable products.

Stonyfield Farm: Safe Additives Guide safeguards plastic packaging

A Safer Chemicals case study

The lack of transparency about chemicals used in a company’s supply chain can make product and packaging innovation extremely challenging. Companies trying to address this issue may hear their suppliers claim that the additives they use in their materials are proprietary, as yogurt-maker Stonyfield Farm was told when they launched a new plant-based (PLA) plastic yogurt container. Not wanting to place healthy food in an unhealthy package, the company sought help from Pure Strategies.

Clean Production Action: Plastics Scorecard promotes use of safer materials

A Safer Chemicals case study

Product designers, manufacturers, and government decision-makers all seek to understand the environmental and health impacts of various plastics across each stage of the life cycle from feedstock production and manufacturing through use and end-of-life. Despite their wide use, plastics often rely on non-renewable resources, may be manufactured with toxic chemicals that may cause health effects, and persist and may cause harm in the environment after use. While some local and national governments have enacted legislation to control the use of high hazard chemicals in plastics, a tool to guide the way to more sustainable alternatives had been lacking.

State of Maine: Identifying safer flame retardants

A Safer Chemicals case study

When searching for substitutes for hazardous chemicals, it is important to ensure the substitutes are less hazardous than the chemicals they will replace. Pure Strategies has conducted numerous studies for companies and the public sector that identify safer substitutes for high hazard substances.