Carrier Transicold, a supplier of systems for maintaining temperature controls during shipping, has developed "next-generation" trailer refrigeration technology.

Crossbeam, a provider of enterprise network security solutions, found it struggled with meeting same-day and next-day delivery requirements mandated in its service-level agreements, says Jim Curley, director, manufacturing & technical operations. It needed automated export compliance from a company with a global footprint, says John Miller, senior vice president, global business development, Flash Global Logistics.

LG Electronics USA is purchasing more than 1.5 million kWh of green power over the next 18 months in cooperation with the EPA's Green Power Partnership program, the company said.

The growing dependence of Japanese companies on manufacturing in parts of Asia is increasing their exposure to water shortages, according to research from KPMG AZSA Sustainability and data and insight company Trucost. Though the study dealt only with Japanese companies, the findings that outsourcing to water-stressed countries, including China, can increase business risks from water scarcity have implications for companies globally.

So much of the attention focused on supply chain sustainability has to do with energy conservation, regulatory compliance and the like, says Todd Stark, chief operating officer of Fair Trade USA. But companies and consumers shouldn't forget that the workers upstream need to have fair wages and safe and clean working environments.

Only 17 percent of sustainability experts rate the performance of corporate leaders in addressing the sustainability agenda as effective, down from 24 percent last year, according to a report by SustainAbility and GlobeScan.

The efficiencies and cost-containment initiatives that the physical supply chain has seen have not been brought to the financial supply chain by most companies, says Robert Kramer, vice president for working capital solutions at PrimeRevenue. That's unfortunate because there are literally trillions of dollars in accounts receivable in corporate supply chins that can be freed up, he says.

The Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) appointed Kaiser Permanente and Stanford University Medical Center to its Healthcare Facility Advisory Board to help the council set priorities and steer the agenda towards its mission of inspiring and enabling sustainable, cost-effective recycling solutions for plastic products and materials used in the delivery of healthcare.

Two years ago, the director of sustainability at a $1bn consumer-products company suggested the corporate budget committee add a new criterion in deciding which capital projects to approve: the project's environmental impact. The director devised a metric for measuring the impact in categories such as water usage, waste reduction, packaging and carbon emissions. The idea saved $20m the first year.