"High market growth rates are occurring across Europe as consumers increasingly demand 'chemically-clean' and ecological cosmetics. Mainstreaming is leading to new product launches in supermarkets, hypermarkets, discount stores, drugstores and department stores."

In the past ten years up to 2007, global sales of fairtrade products is said to have grown seventy-fold to reach an estimated total of $3.5bn in 2007, with sales increasing by 47% in 2007 alone.

Biofoam in cushions
Cushion manufacturer Carpenter Co. has adopted Cargill's soybean-based BiOH polyols for its new Renew™ brand of foam cushioning, that are said to be fully recyclable and available in a wide assortment of firmness and densities.

Asbestos haunts Exxon
The Louisiana First Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court's 2006 judgment awarding substantial damages to the family of a former ExxonMobil employee, Bruce Spillman of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who died of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, in 2005.

SB 509 requires California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to establishes a website called Toxics Information Clearinghouse that will provide information to consumers and businesses about chemicals and chemical products they make, use, buy or sell.

AB 1879 would also require DTSC to establish a process that will systematically identify chemicals of concern to human health or the environment, as well as gives DTSC authority to regulate such chemicals in consumer products.

DTSC is expected to start the toxic chemical evaluation by January 1, 2011.

The legislations are considered the first stepping stones of California's Green Chemistry Initiative.

Yesterday, the US Congress approved the Mercury Market Minimization Act of 2008, which would ban the export of elemental mercury, prohibit federal agencies from selling or distributing mercury; and direct the Department of Energy (DOE) to provide permanent storage for domestic stocks of mercury under certain conditions.

The export ban will be effective on January 1, 2013. The bill also requires the Environmental Protection Agency to report to Congress on mercury compounds that may currently be used in any products or processes.

"The intentional use of mercury is declining in the United States as a consequence of process changes to manufactured products (including batteries, paints, switches, and measuring devices), but those uses remain substantial in the developing world where releases from the products are extremely likely due to the limited pollution control and waste management infrastructures in those countries."

The Commission banned all China-sourced products for infants and young children that contain any percentage of milk even though food operators assure that such milk products have not been imported into the European Union.

All imported products from China containing more than 15% of milk powder will also be tested upon entry into the EU, the Commission said. This is a precautionary measure as according to the agency, the EU imported last year from China about 19,500 tonnes of confectionary products, such as pastry, cake and biscuits and about 1,250 tonnes of chocolate and other food preparations containing cocoa.

In the US, the Food and Drug Administration alerted consumers and retailer on September 26 about seven Mr. Brown instant coffee and milk tea products being recalled by the Taiwanese company King Car Food Industrial Co. Ltd due to possible melamine contamination. The FDA said no melamine contamination has been found yet in milk-based Chinese products imported into the US but the agency continues to work with regulatory agencies in other countries.

One product tested for positive contamination in New Zealand is White Rabbit Creamy Candies, according to the FDA. The agency is advising any individuals who get sick from eating the candy to contact their doctors as soon as possible.

My boss is currently eating several White Rabbit candies right now to check if they're contaminated.

Here are some of the points that caught my attention in the revised standards called GS-37 (about 20 pages long):

Watch out for my sustainable packaging story and the green movement in Japan. I'll also post about ongoing green R&D developments at Rhodia's (a specialty chemical company) research center in Bristol, Pennsylvania.

For now, here's this week's green news roundup:

Bioplastic's best friends
Agribusiness giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) will collaborate with PolyOne to develop biobased plasticizers from corn and oilseeds. Plasticizers are used to make plastics softer and more flexible.

New eco-lubes in Norway
INEOS Bamble AS and Puralube Nordic AS will build a new eco-friendly lubricant oil production plant on the INEOS site at Rønningen, Bamble, Norway. The plant will recycle waste oils into high viscosity, low sulphur, water white lubricant oils.

Yesterday, Wal-Mart announced its goal to reduce its global plastic shopping bag waste by an average of 33% per store by 2013, amounting to more than 135 million pounds of plastic waste globally. The initiative is expected to reduce Wal-Mart's energy consumption by around 678,000 barrels of oil per year and reduce CO2 emissions by 290,000 metric tons per year.

We think we can eliminate plastic waste equivalent to 9 billion plastic bags per year from our existing stores alone," said Matt Kistler, senior vice president for sustainability of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. "If we can encourage consumers to change their behavior, just one bag at a time, we believe real progress can be made toward our goal of creating zero waste."

By the way, in a separate news, Hawaii county's acting mayor is said to have vetoed a proposed plastic bag ban in favor of recycling, the American Chemistry Council reported.

According to the mayor:

"I believe it is better to work to change people's hearts so they change their own behavior rather than outlawing a commodity (plastic bags) that many people find useful. If we focus on educating our residents about the benefits of reusable bags along with proper disposal (reuse and recycling) of plastic bags, we will change attitudes and behaviors."

Here are some of their selling points:

• The plug-in hybrid achieved 67 MPG, a 60-percent increase over thestandard hybrid's 42 MPG and a 205-percent increase in MPG compared with a standard car at 22 MPG.

• The plug-in hybrid achieved a 37-percent reduction in CO2 tailpipe emissions when compared with a standard hybrid and a 67-percent reduction compared with a gasoline-powered car.

• The plug-in hybrid had a monthly fuel cost of $94, an 18-percent reduction from the fuel costs of a standard hybrid ($115) and a 57-percent reduction when compared with a gasoline-powered car with a monthly fuel cost of $219 at $3.85 per gallon.

Solar and fuel cell, however, got the best deal as the bill extends their 30% investment tax credit until 2016. The use of microturbines and geothermal also got a 10% tax credit until 2016.

Tax breaks for solar energy consumers such as residential and businesses will also be extended for 8 more years. Reuters reported this morning about several solar stocks rallying with this news. I wish I bought some!

Hard as it may be, the chemical industry should do its part in developing chemicals that cannot be easily used by terrorists, especially those that are commercially accessible such as fertilizers.

According to Honeywell, the new technology has already received SAFETY Act Designation from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). When mixed with fuel oil -- a common method of using ammonium nitrate as an explosive -- Honeywell said the new ammonium sulfate nitrate fertilizer did not detonate.

"The unique composition of this new fertilizer makes it extremely difficult to turn it into a weapon. Ammonium nitrate has long been an excellent fertilizer, but this technology makes it safer."

Which is why Procter & Gamble is suing Kraft Foods alleging that it infringed P&G's patented lighter-weight Folgers plastic container when Kraft recently introduced in the US its new 4-pound plastic container Maxwell House coffee.

P&G said it costs the company lots of green bucks to overcome the technical challenges in making a lightweight plastic container which can withstand the pressure changes that occur between the factory and the consumer's home.

By the way, P&G's Folger's AromaSeal Shaped Plastic Coffee Canister won DuPont's Innovation in Packaging award in 2004. The canister was recognized for its innovation in replacing a 150-year tradition of using metal cans in coffee container, with the plastic also dent and ding-resistant, and the canister being lightweight and stackable.

I won't be surprised to see more green packaging lawsuits in the near future, whether they'll be about patent infringement, misleading marketing, or even safety hazards.

In KPMG's poll of 301 venture capitalists (VCs), corporate executives, entrepreneurs and bankers, 91% said they expect investments to rise next year, with 50% even stating an increase of 20% or more compared to the 2008 levels, while 34% expect investment levels to increase 10%-19%.

Around 76% says the investment level next year will be the same as this year. The type of investments will also be more diversified with 15% expecting more VC funding in energy storage (fuel cells, batteries...), 14% each in clean coal and wind, 11% in alternative fuels, and 10% in solar.

The report also noted that among clean air energy source, the most dominant in the next 20 years will be solar (39%), nuclear (27%), and wind (18%). I truly did not expect nuclear in the list but I guess VCs know more about what's happening in that area.

US geography-wise, 60% expect greentech investments to center in the West, followed by Southwest region (14%), Midwest (13%), Northwest (9%) and Southeast (4%). Outside the US and excluding China and India, 28% of VCs polled expect more investment opportunities in Brazil and 27% in Israel. Russia (11%) and South Korea (10%) were the only countries with double-digit response rates.

Take for example the list of "high concern" chemicals called the Reach SIN list 1.0 provided by the International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec), the Sweden-based nonprofit organisation dedicated to working towards a toxic free environment (according to their website's intro). The list was developed with the collaboration of other environmental groups.

According to ICIS News ( subscription required), nearly 300 chemicals are on the list compared to only 16 chemicals nominated by European member states to be included on a list of "substances of very high concern" (SVHC), as agreed under the registration and evaluation of European chemicals legislation known as Reach.

"Our SIN list which should be given the highest priority in the REACH Authorisation process," said ChemSec. "Our aim is to ensure that REACH Authorisation procedure indeed will be an effective tool to fast-track the most urgent SVHCs for substitution, and to facilitate toxic use reduction by businesses."