Sustainability

Beijing – – September 30, 2026 -- Global climate officials meeting in Beijing this week pressed for faster international cooperation on clean energy, pointing to China's build-out of what they called the world's largest clean power and clean steel production systems as a template for coordinated industrial policy.

China reports ultra-low-emission retrofits across 1.17 billion kilowatts of coal power capacity

Huang Runqiu, China's minister of ecology and environment and executive vice-chairperson of the China Council for International Cooperation on Environment and Development (CCICED), said the retrofits extend to 990 million metric tons of crude steel production capacity. He added that China now operates or has under construction 101 nuclear power units, the largest such pipeline globally. The figures were presented as evidence of tangible emissions-cutting action rather than policy commitments alone.

Madison, Wisconsin – September 30, 2026 -- Focus on Energy, Wisconsin's statewide energy efficiency program, marked its 25th anniversary by recognizing four Energy Efficiency Champions at an award ceremony held at the Wisconsin State Capitol, with honorees crediting sustained operational commitments over one-time projects for their results.

Governor Evers Receives Champion Award for Program Support

Public Service Commission Chairperson Summer Strand presented Gov. Tony Evers with an Energy Efficiency Champion Award for his backing of the Focus on Energy program, including annual Energy Efficiency Day proclamations and a Clean Energy Plan that calls for expanding the program's reach across the state.

Baltimore – – September 29, 2026 -- Caracal Products & Services has opened a 9,000-square-foot recycling hub in Baltimore to process discarded medical plastics for regional health systems, expanding its East Coast network of facilities.

Facility anchors a recycling partnership with Johns Hopkins Health System

The warehouse, located at 2-6 Alco Place, will serve as the operational base for a recycling program Caracal has launched with Johns Hopkins Health System. The site houses industrial balers that compress polypropylene and polyethylene waste from hospitals into bales onsite before shipment to recyclers, where the material is shredded, melted and reformed into plastic pellets for new healthcare-grade products.

Salem, Oregon – September 29, 2026 -- Reser's Fine Foods has completed two energy efficiency upgrades at its new Don Pancho West facility that are expected to cut overall electricity use by more than 20%, saving nearly 1.9 million kilowatt-hours annually and reducing facility emissions by 8%.

New CO2 refrigeration system replaces six units and cuts power use 41%

The 300,000-square-foot facility, which Don Pancho moved into in September 2025, now runs a centralized refrigeration system using carbon dioxide as its primary refrigerant, replacing six systems that relied on a higher-global-warming-potential refrigerant. The new system is expected to consume 41% less electricity than the modeled baseline while delivering 114% greater refrigeration capacity and more consistent temperature control, positioning Reser's as an early food-manufacturing adopter of CO2 refrigeration technology.

New York – – September 29, 2026 -- Big Idea Ventures and Mars Petcare have selected three startups for the third edition of the Next Generation Pet Food Program, drawing 83 applications from 33 countries to advance alternative proteins, fats and oils aimed at cutting the environmental footprint of pet food ingredients.

Program partners with AAK, Bühler, Givaudan and Ingredion select three ingredient startups

EcoBean, a Polish company that valorizes spent coffee grounds from industrial production into high-value ingredients for cosmetics, food and pet applications, joins the 2026 cohort. Loopworm, an Indian insect biotech firm, manufactures protein and fat ingredients from silkworms using proprietary technology. Space Ark Biomedical, based in Taiwan, upcycles okara and brewer's spent grain into functional protein ingredients through enzyme technology and precision fermentation.

Delray Beach – September 29, 2026 -- The global UV stabilizers market is projected to grow from $2.86 billion in 2026 to $3.99 billion by 2031, a compound annual growth rate of 6.91%, according to MarketsandMarkets.

Asia Pacific commanded 37.2% of global value in 2025

Asia Pacific led the UV stabilizers market in 2025 with a 37.2% share by value, driven by regional polymer processing capacity and industrial expansion. North America ranked second, supported by established polymer processing infrastructure and stringent performance requirements for materials exposed to outdoor conditions.

Tefen, Israel – September 29, 2026 -- StePacPPC has launched a patent-pending resealable pouch that extends the shelf life of moisture-sensitive cucumbers to 16 days by combining modified atmosphere, humidity control, and condensation management in a single package.

Xgo PAZ pouch solves a longstanding packaging trade-off for cucumbers

Traditional laminated stand-up pouches restrict water vapor transmission, trapping moisture that accelerates microbial decay in cucumbers. Packers have historically countered this by macro-perforating the film, but that sacrifices modified atmosphere protection, speeds dehydration, and still allows condensation to form. StePacPPC's Xgo pouch integrates three functions -- modified atmosphere, modified humidity, and condensation control -- into one film structure, according to CTO Gary Ward.

San Antonio – September 29, 2026 -- Alder Renewables has completed 1,000 hours of continuous operation at its integrated industrial pilot, producing on-spec Alder Renewable Crude (ARC) from commercially sourced woody biomass pyrolysis oil. The sustained run validates the company's low-temperature conversion process and generates operating data now feeding into equipment design for its first full-scale commercial project.

Pilot data will size larger commercial units

The 1,000-hour campaign confirmed Alder's integrated process can hold continuous operation while repeatedly meeting product specifications. Alder is applying the results to refine process controls, operating parameters and equipment design for scale-up engineering.

Wichita, Kan. – September 29, 2026 -- Landscape architecture firm Hoerr Schaudt has completed a $25 million civic playscape at Exploration Place in Wichita, Kansas, featuring what is believed to be the first aviation-themed playground of its scale in the world and one of the largest educational water play environments in the United States.

Adventure Playscape spans 10 themed environments built into a renaturalized riverfront landscape

As master planner and design lead, Hoerr Schaudt organized the site as a continuous riverfront campus of paths, gardens and native plantings rather than a collection of standalone attractions. The project incorporates more than 40,000 plants emphasizing native Kansas species and grasses, 500 tons of Kansas limestone, and 250 new trees alongside preserved existing trees. City water consumption at Exploration Place is expected to decline through revised irrigation design and stormwater management.

Shanghai – September 29, 2026 -- Envision Energy has secured a spot on Fortune's 2026 Change the World list for the third time, recognized for its Mission Gobi initiative pairing AI computing infrastructure with renewable energy in desert regions.

Fortune honors Envision among 50 global companies tackling social and environmental challenges

The 2026 list includes Alphabet, Anthropic and CATL among other honorees. Envision's selection centers on Mission Gobi's approach to converging AI and green energy, positioning abundant renewable resources as infrastructure for next-generation computing.

Mission Gobi targets 5GW of green AI computing capacity by 2030

Launched in June 2026, the initiative aims to build green AI computing capacity across desert and arid regions worldwide, drawing on wind and solar resources in areas historically viewed as energy-constrained.