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Edible Garden Greenthumb™ Agtech solution drives sustainability impact for Walmart Project Gigaton

Edible Garden AG Incorporated's patented Agtech solution, Greenthumb™ helped drive Walmart's Project Gigaton goals in 2021, leading Edible Garden to be named a Project Gigaton "Giga Guru." Project Gigaton is Walmart's initiative to remove emissions in the global value chain by 1 billion metric tons – a gigaton – by 2030.

Scotch & Soda’s sustainable packaging drive

In December 2021, Amsterdam-based men's and women's clothing brand Scotch & Soda announced plans to introduce sustainable packaging (for delivery packaging and in-store). The brand has said that, by the end of 2022, it will package at least 1 million of its garments globally with bioplastic bags – a form of biodegradable packaging made from corn starch and sugar cane that has been created in collaboration with sustainable packaging company TIPA. It is currently using plastic polybags and has already had of 1 million pieces packed in TIPA’s compostable packaging solution and continue to increase the number further for the following seasons. By 2025, it aims to eliminate the use of conventional plastic polybags from all product categories. Jelle de Jong, sustainability director at Scotch & Soda, shared, “Last year, we partnered with TIPA – an innovator and manufacturer of compostable packaging. It has developed a material that is 20% bio-based and 80% fossil fuel-based, biodegradable, fully compostable and mimics the protective characteristics of plastic. In addition, we believe there is room for improvement when it comes to the collection and composting of bioplastic packaging in the fashion industry. By working with TIPA and local waste processors, we aim to promote the process of composting and make a selection of our stores part of a global infrastructure supporting this initiative.” “We will encourage recycling of our compostable packaging at selected stores. We hope a product, traditionally considered waste will, through the composting process, return nutrients to the soil,” he explained. Edible Garden's highlighted performance as a Project Gigaton "Giga Guru" included: recycling over 38 tons of cardboard, saving 21,000 gallons of gasoline and conserving over 500 barrels of oil while avoiding a total of 442 tons of CO2 in emissions. The patented GreenThumb software application allows Edible Garden to reduce waste and spoilage, tightening the food chain while fulfilling customers' needs. Greenthumb is a tool that is used by Edible Garden's greenhouses and their partner farms to cut waste and build efficiencies into operations. "This is a full enterprise solution we've rolled out across our partnered greenhouses, where each greenhouse will cross reference each other," said Scott Prendergast, Chief Data Officer. "We continue to promote traceability, food safety, and reduction of food miles and this application optimizes all of these areas."

Robots support Nike’s supply chain logistics

Nike’s supply chain has been disrupted in the pandemic, but new ‘collaborative robots’ will help achieve sustainability ideals & hit customer expectations. Nike has installed over 1,000 robots to help ship out orders from its distribution centres. Nike has welcomed the robot fleet due to COVID-19’s disruption of the global supply chain. Cobots are now supporting Nike’s factory employees with sorting and packing sportswear products, as some human employees remain too sick to work. “Our new Court Distribution Centre represents Nike’s continued investment in a fast and flexible supply chain to deliver the full range of our product to consumers when they want, where they want it,” commented Eric Sprunk, Chief Operating Officer, Nike. Nike has revealed that the robots have helped the company to triple its digital order capacity in North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. In a recent report, Nike admitted factory shutdowns in Vietnam and Indonesia due to Covid-19, caused the company to lose three months of production during the first quarter of fiscal 2022. Vietnam supplies 51% of Nike footwear and 30% of its apparel. In Indonesia, 24% of Nike’s footwear is manufactured alongside 12% of its apparel. The firm is determined to eradicate waste from its supply chain over the next five years and to become zero carbon by 2025.

A sustainable shipping supply chain must have low emissions

With three-quarters of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions being associated with supply chains, the pressure is on for leading companies to find ways to drive down emissions beyond their own operations. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, more than 75% of GHG emissions associated with most industry sectors come from their supply chain. It is a longstanding issue. The mining and shipping industries in particular face major challenges in creating economically sustainable supply chains. McKinsey reports that it would take 41 fully dedicated zeroemission vessels to decarbonise all iron-ore trade between Australia and Japan, for example, while the first Ammoniapowered ship is unlikely to enter service before 2025. There are 90,000 ocean-going cargo ships travelling the ocean around the world, weighing up to 2,300 tonnes each. These ships bring retail items to their final destination, from computers to clothing, food to beverages. In the globalized age, items from a factory across the world can be on the shelf of your local supermarket after a few months at sea. The shipping sector accounts for an estimated 80% of all trade, but this comes at a cost: • Shipping is responsible for 18-30% of all the world's nitrogen oxide (NOx) pollution • 9% of the global sulphur oxide (SOx) pollution • Shipping is responsible for up to 4% of all climate change emissions But that is starting to change. Oldendorff Carriers, a German shipowner, has announced a trial voyage using biofuel on the Edwine Oldendorff, from Australia to Vietnam. This is expected to create 15% less emissions compared to traditional fossil fuels. Green shipping lanes will create sustainable shipping As recently reported in Supply Chain, a report from McKinsey (which included contributions from maritime bodies) suggested that much-needed sustainability changes could be made in freight shipping, through the introduction of green shipping lanes. The report ‘The next wave: Green corridors’, highlighted, “Green corridors could create secondary effects that reduce shipping emissions on other routes. For example, once the infrastructure to provide zero-emission fuel for one green corridor is in place, it can then be used for shipping on other, adjacent routes.” But Australian mining giant BHP is beginning to make a dent in its supply chain GHG emissions, by reducing transport times for the shipping of supplies from Singapore to Western Australia by six days. This will cut GHG emissions by up to 75% on the route. BHP has been trialling direct shipping through Singapore to Port Hedland in Western Australia since 2020. It will now ship 7.5% of the containerized supplies it receives into its Western Australian Iron Ore operations (WAIO). Before the trial, BHP supplies for WAIO were shipped to the Port of Fremantle, before being transported 1,650kms by road to Hedland. The direct route is expected to keep around 900 trailers off the route from Fremantle to Port Hedland. A recent report by leading independent economics advisory firm, ACIL Allen, estimated that near-port freight efficiencies could be worth around US$5mn a year, while imported cargo freight efficiencies are in the order of US$60mn per year.

Just 3% of organizations escaped supply chain disruption in 2021

The research, conducted by 3Gem, found that companies are unsure about what the future holds, with 37% of organizations concerned about the long-term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the supply chain. This is followed by Brexit (24%), a pressure to be more sustainable (19%), the changing regulatory landscape (12%) and a lack of investment (7%). Factors outside of company control and the resulting consequences varied from company to company, with organizations facing customer delays (59%), stalled production (44%) and staff shortages (40%). As a result of this disruption, the supply chain has become a priority for nearly two thirds of businesses (63%). “Businesses are right to feel concerned when it comes to their supply chain,” says Wayne Snyder, Vice President, Retail Industry Strategy, EMEA, Blue Yonder. “In 2021, we saw unprecedented disruption, and as we look ahead, several macro factors on the horizon are likely to drive further interference. To stay ahead of today’s supply chain complexities, organizations need to be able to plan intelligently, while having the visibility and flexibility to respond at pace. This can only be achieved by having a real-time, end-to-end view of the supply chain that leverages technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) to recommend and optimize actions.” The positive news is that organizations clearly understand the impact of disruption and are proactively managing concerns by investing time and resource in the supply chain. Blue Yonder’s research found an overwhelming majority (83%) of organizations have increased investment in the supply chain over the last 12 months, with one in 10 organisations (11%) investing more than $25m. Technology is the common factor when it comes to spending this investment. When asked about how they invested budgets, 86% of organizations invested in technology, followed by developing new skills and defining a new supply chain strategy (60%). Interestingly, over half of organisations (58%) also invested in the sustainability of the supply chain. When asked about the technology that would have the most significant impact in reducing disruption, 67% of organizations believe that having the ability to view and manage the supply chain from end-to-end will help them manage disruption better. This is followed by advancements in AI technology (53%), new types of delivery options powered by the likes of robots and drones (43%), and the use of technology to better manage their workforce (42%). The study also showed that more than two-third (68%) companies state that planning, forecasting, and inventory management were their most important areas for technology investment, with end-to-end supply chain management and AI technology deemed critical by more than half (53%).