Implementing long-lasting changes, including behavioural change, requires good planning and commitment by employees and management. Mobility planning is a classic example of how this works.

Typically, mobility planning for personnel includes a baseline assessment of the current modes of transport used, which can be collected via a survey including a question on employees' willingness to change the way they travel to work. The idea of the plan is to map out challenges and problems on the path to more sustainable commuting, company wide.

Warm reaction to proposed new measures

All steamed up

• Food company investigates ways to optimise its steam production plant
• Discovers a feed-forward system can iron out steam production fluctuation 

Steam is a major component in most food manufacturing. One producer uses steam-heated distillation columns, for example, as part of its production, but was having problems with fluctuating inflow. This was causing unstable operations and excess steam consumption.

Finishing is a series of processing operations applied to a textile material that improves its appearance, performance, ‘hand’ (feel) and/or functional properties. Finishing processes are usually applied directly to fabrics after, or in combination with, dyeing. Technologies available for mechanical and chemical finishing of fabrics are extensive, with new finishing opportunities constantly being developed.

Dyeing can take place at multiple stages within the supply chain, from dyeing fibres and yarns through to fabrics and garments. The environmental impact of dyeing is related to the type of dye, type of material being dyed, application method used, stage applied and overall desired effect. In general, dyeing requires significant amounts of water and energy due to the use of heated dye baths and rinsing baths. Many of the chemicals used in dyeing also present a concern.

What's in a name?

• Dairies explored benefits of employing ice pigging in their production cycles
• Results showed substantial cost and environmental savings

Yeo Valley Farms and BV Dairy in the UK explored cost-effective and environmental alternatives to clean their lines after production. They carried out 'pigging' trials that force ice slurry through the system to remove sediment, which saves cleaning time and reduces overall water and chemical use in the process.  

Packaging is usually developed simply to protect products during transportation, storage and display. However, in some circumstances, more complex packaging can be useful. A company looked at markets where temperature control, such as frozen products, is critical and this led to an innovative, resource-efficient and convenient new packaging being developed.

The cold truth

Experts estimate that up to 11 % of the 'cradle-to-factory gate' carbon footprint of a 100 % polyester ladies top, for example, is due to the yarn dyeing stage. Coloured polyester fibres may be more expensive than standard uncoloured ones since they include the cost of dye pigments added before the extrusion process. However, by eliminating this wet dyeing process, money is saved on water and chemicals, and energy savings are also achieved.