by Komoneed | Mar 26, 2025
Schneider Electric has announced the Pacific winners of its annual Sustainability Impact Awards.
Announced at Schneider’s Innovation Summit 2025 in Sydney, the awards celebrate businesses leading the way in decarbonisation, energy efficiency and sustainable transformation.
This year’s selection criteria were said to have highlighted companies turning their ambition into action, homing in on net-zero targets, electrification and digitisation.
SA Power Networks and WaterNSW were named Pacific Customer Joint winners for their commitment to innovation and environmental stewardship, and are said to be setting a new benchmark for sustainability in the Pacific region.
With nearly 80% of SA Power Networks’ operation using renewable energies, the company was recognised for its progressive efforts to accelerate South Australia’s renewable energy transition.
Partnering with Schneider Electric to implement SF6-free switchgear and Dynamic Operating Envelopes, SA Power Networks is enhancing grid stability and sustainability.
WaterNSW was awarded for its approach to sustainable water management. The organisation boosted its water monitoring and management capabilities by implementing a suite of telemetry and AI-driven compliance tools, including drones, remote sensing and climate data modelling.
Water NSW also developed inclusive and equitable sustainability policies, including supporting First Nations’ water rights and ownership.
The top winners in the Sustainability Impact ‘Partner Awards’ category in the Pacific Zone were Datacom and UPS Power Solutions.
This award acknowledges Schneider Electric partners demonstrating sustainable leadership by helping their customers achieve decarbonisation goals. Datacom received the Australian and the International Operations Partner Awards for its sustainability commitments, including its net-zero emissions target by 2030.
Datacom has already transitioned its New Zealand data centres to 100% renewable energy, reduced work-related air travel by 40% and optimised logistics to minimise waste.
Embedding sustainability across its operations, Datacom extends this commitment to its customers, providing emissions data to help them make informed decisions.
UPS Power Solutions received the New Zealand Partner Award for its dedication to sustainability and innovation.
UPS Power Solutions is New Zealand’s provider of back-up power and protection solutions. It delivers energy-efficient, reliable power solutions to major organisations across the Pacific.
This award recognises the company’s efforts to help other businesses transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy future.
“This year’s award winners — SA Power Networks, WaterNSW, Datacom and UPS Power Solutions — exemplify how connecting innovation and collaboration can accelerate the energy transition and contribute to raising sustainability benchmarks in the region,” said Schneider Electric’s Pacific Zone President Colette Munro.
“We’re proud to recognise and support organisations making progress on their sustainability journeys, demonstrating how the right technology and commitment can make such great positive impact.”
Image caption: Schneider Innovation Summit Sydney 2025 Awards. Image: Supplied.
by Komoneed | Mar 26, 2025
Alternew and Revive are partnering with fashion brands to profit from repairs and alterations while keeping clothes out of closets, warehouses and landfills.
The post How 2 startups are turning imperfect clothes into a business opportunity appeared first on Trellis.
by Kate Mothes | Mar 26, 2025
The Minneapolis-based artist creates sprawling scenes from large, single sheets.
Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Delicate Ecosystems Converge in Sonja Peterson’s Intricate Cut Paper Compositions appeared first on Colossal.
by Komoneed | Mar 25, 2025
The Politecnico di Milano, coordinator of the Waste Oils RecycLe and Development (WORLD) project, proposes a circular and sustainable process to turn used vegetable oil into a valuable resource.
Vegetable oil is used widely around the world, and cooking and food preservation is said to generate a huge amount of waste oil. Around four million tonnes of used vegetable oil are produced in Europe each year, representing just 4% of the total global amount of the widespread product. If not properly disposed of, the waste can lead to significant environmental impacts.
The goal of the WORLD project is to optimise waste vegetable oil treatment processes while improving the quality of end products, reducing waste and fostering European independence in the supply of critical raw materials.
The project proposes to recycle used vegetable oil, yielding materials used as bio-lubricants, air purification devices and fine chemical components from petroleum-free precursors. These applications are presented as a supply chain parallel to their well-known use in the production of biodiesel, although this is limited by law to 10% and concerns only the purest fraction of the waste.
In addition to economic and technological benefits, the project has a strong social and environmental impact: raising awareness of correct waste oil collection can reduce public costs related to incorrect disposal and prevent environmental damage. In addition, a life cycle analysis (LCA) will be conducted to assess the best strategies to minimise ecological, economic and social impacts by adopting a ‘zero waste’ approach.
The project study was published by the British Royal Society of Chemistry in the international journal RSC Sustainability.
“We started by observing that the waste vegetable oil recycling industry is currently based on simple decantation and filtration processes, without adequate scientific optimisation. We therefore analysed two alternative techniques — bentonite treatment and water washing — to improve their efficiency and reduce their environmental impact,” explained study co-author Andrea Mele, from the ‘G. Natta’ Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano.
“Through an experimental approach based on the design of experiments (DoE) methodology and multivariate statistical analysis, we optimised key parameters such as temperature, pH, bentonite concentration and oil-to-water ratio. The results showed that washing with water at 75°C and pH 6 guarantees the best performance in terms of yield, productivity and environmental sustainability, minimising the production of waste and the carbon impacts of the process,” continued co-author Alberto Mannu, who recently transferred from the Politecnico di Milano to the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Brescia.
Thanks to the WORLD project, a mathematical model developed from the collected data yields predictions of equivalent CO2 emissions according to operating conditions, providing the recycling industry with a practical tool for optimising processes in line with environmental certification standards.
This scientifically validated approach marks a step forward in the transition towards an efficient and sustainable circular economy. It is said to form part of the key principles of green chemistry, open new prospects for sustainability and efficiency, and may be highly competitive from a technical/economic perspective in models of the circular economy.
The WORLD project was funded by the European Union under the H2020-MSCA program. The consortium, which is coordinated by Politecnico di Milano, includes the Universities in Burgos (Spain) and Dunkirk (France), LUT University (Finland), and the Universities of Sassari and Brescia, together with non-academic partners in Spain and Italy.
Image credit: iStock.com/Rosendo Serrano Valera
by Komoneed | Mar 25, 2025
The honorees in our eighth year of the GreenBiz 30 Under 30 represent an array of geographies across most continents — from the United Arab Emirates to the United States.
The post The 2023 GreenBiz 30 Under 30 appeared first on Trellis.
