A round-up of the latest business news from Amazon, Kraft Heinz and Electrolux.
Amazon is to install photovoltaic systems on the roofs of 50 fulfilment centres worldwide by 2020. Work on 15 sites, mostly in the US and capable of generating up to 41 MW, will be completed by the end of the year. The online retailer said, depending on the project, time of year and other factors, a solar installation could generate up to 80% of a facility’s annual energy needs. Amazon, which has already invested in wind and solar technology to power its datacentres, said its latest plans bring the total of its installed or planned renewable energy capacity to 3.6 million MW.
Electrical equipment manufacturer Electrolux has set new targets for 2020 on recycling and waste, and renewable energy. The Swedish firm wants to increase the amount of recycled plastic used in products from 7,400 tonnes in 2016 to 20,000 tonnes in 2020. To help achieve this, the company said it would analyse products to see where it could use more recycled materials, and find more suppliers of good quality recycled plastics. It also intends by 2020 for half the energy used in its operations to come from renewable sources and to send no waste to landfill. Electrolux has four pilot projects running to develop procedures to eliminate, reuse or recycle waste.
Kraft Heinz has announced new sustainability commitments. They are: to purchase only palm oil and derivatives 100% certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil; and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions, energy, water and waste in its operations by 15% globally by 2020 compared with 2015 levels. The firm said measures were being taken to maximise efficient energy and water consumption and reduce or divert waste at each of its 86 company-owned manufacturing plants.
The German state North-Rhine Westphalia has announced plans to turn the Prosper-Haniel coal mine into a 200 MW pumped-storage hydroelectric reservoir. It will act like a battery and have enough capacity to power more than 400,000 homes. Governor Hannelore Kraft said other mines in the area might also be converted because the state needed more industrial-scale storage to double the share of renewables in its power mix to 30% by 2025.
