Sustainability: Ecology & Economy // Snapshot Series

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.
LHBS// SUSTAINABILITY: MATCHING ECOLOGY & ECONOMY
1
the latest instalment of our: Snapshot Series
SUSTAINABILITY: 
ECOLOGY &
ECONOMY

ABOUT.
At LHBS, we believe in continuously observing and learning from
what’s happing in the market.
We’ve created our Snapshot Series to provide insights on platforms,
industries and companies. Using best practice examples, we explore,
analyze and share how businesses are adapting to new trends.
Moving from insightful data to best practices to actionable
implications, Snapshots can be a guide to bring meaningful
innovations to life in different areas of business.
This issue highlights the changes in company and consumer mindsets
on Sustainability.
We hope you enjoy this deck and ﬁnd inspiration for your innovation
process.
UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW. 2
LHBS // SUSTAINABILITY: MATCHING ECOLOGY & ECONOMY
Discover Deﬁne Develop Deliver

INTRO-
DUCTION.
Sustainability has been a buzzword for the last couple of years. It
means connecting economy with ecology, being able to internationally
compete while also protecting the environment. A lot of companies are
already committing to “being green”. It gives a competitive advantage
and sustainability is increasingly expected by consumers. The
movement is called Green Economy and describes a sustainable
business that protects natural resources and doesn’t harm the
environment.
This report explores the Green Economy from three angles:
• insights into industry evolvements and consumer expectations
• introduces best practices of brands that get it right
• implications derived from insights and best practice examples
LHBS is a marketing & innovation ﬁrm with ofﬁces in Berlin and
Copenhagen. We help clients to understand today's emerging
customer expectations and to shape their business offerings for
tomorrow.
! http://www.lhbs.com
Nicole Stautz
Strategy Consultant at LHBS
lhbs.com | ns@lhbs.com
INTRODUCTION
3

CONTENT.
Best Practice Examples
How do brands do it?
Take-Aways
What does this mean?
Insights to Industry and
Consumer Behavior
What’s happening?
CONTENT
4

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Insights on Proﬁtability and Consumer Preferences Regarding
Sustainability
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Chapter 1

WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Source: Hufﬁngton Post
32%
68%
68%
of organizations
increased their
commitment to
sustainability in the
past year

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW. 7Source: Hufﬁngton Post
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
33%
67%
67%
say that sustainability
strategies are
necessary to be
competitive

The global market volume for environmental
technologies will reach a projected
$2.7 billion by 2020…
WHAT’S HAPPENING?

coming from energy
efficiency technologies
(appliances, industrial
processes, electrical
motors, insulation, etc.)
coming from waste
management/
recycling
coming from water
supply/sanitation/
water efficiency
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
coming from
sustainable transport
(more-efficient engines,
hybrids, fuel cells,
alternative fuels, etc.)
$1.2 bn $63 bn $658 bn $493 bn

10
“Sustainable business models powered by digital revolutionize
value creation by eliminating the concept of ‘waste’ and
moving towards a circular economy.”
Accenture
Waste to Wealth Report
WHAT’S HAPPENING?
Source: Accenture

11
$4.5
trillion
Circular economy and
digital represent a huge
opportunity to create
“circular advantage”
with an estimated
reward of $4.5 trillion
Source: Accenture
WHAT’S HAPPENING?LHBS // SUSTAINABILITY: MATCHING ECOLOGY & ECONOMY

12
and consumers are all for it…

13
34%
66%
66%
of consumers globally
say they’re willing to
pay more for products
and services that come
from companies that
are committed to
positive social and
environmental impact
Source: Nielsen

Especially among younger consumers,
environmental friendliness is key to purchase
decisions.

15
“Brands that establish a reputation for environmental
stewardship among today’s youngest consumers have an
opportunity to not only grow market share but build loyalty
among the power-spending Millennials of tomorrow, too.”
Source: Nielsen
Grace Farraj
SVP of Public Development & Sustainability at Nielsen

16
28%
72%
72%
of Gen Z are willing to
pay more for products
and services that come
from companies who
are committed to
positive social and
environmental change
Source: Nielsen

HOW DO BRANDS DO IT?
Best Practice Examples
Chapter 2

This chapter introduces best practices of brands that get it right
and are lead by sustainability in different areas of business.
Examples are clustered into four subchapters:
18
SUSTAINABLE
BRANDS:
HOW DO BRANDS DO IT?LHBS // SUSTAINABILITY: MATCHING ECOLOGY & ECONOMY
Supply Chain & Production: Using less harmful
ingredients and recyclable materials
Green Sourcing & Circular Economy: Transforming
waste into wealth
Sustainability in Communication & Content:
Sponsoring green movements, startups and/or events,
and partnering with sustainable companies
Encouraging a Green Lifestyle: Adding new services to
current portfolio and innovating around the topic of
sustainable everyday lives

One way companies are transforming to more sustainable
practices is by “greening” their supply chain and production.
By using less harmful ingredients and recyclable materials, ﬁrms
from a wide variety of industries are reducing their impact on the
environment. From the food and beverage industry to fashion, to
furniture and technology:
Brands are changing how they work, into “greener”
procedures.
19
MAKING
SUPPLY
CHAIN &
PRODUCTION
GREEN
ProductBio: Platform
connecting ethical &
sustainable companies
Patagonia: Brewing
beer without pesticides
& with less water
Zara: Sustainable
clothing line &
packaging
IKEA: Using renewable
or recyclable materials
Fairphone: Using non-
conﬂict minerals &
making their product
repairable and long-
lasting
Mars: Sustainable
supply chain &
packaging

UNDERSTAND TODAY. SHAPE TOMORROW.Source:
ProductBio
Platform Connecting Ethical & Sustainable
Companies
! Explore the Sign
Companies committed to ethical and sustainable
practices can now turn to the new platform
ProductBio, which helps connect similar companies
in order to take the grey areas out of the green
economy.
By joining the online platform ProductBio, companies
committed to ethical and sustainable practices can
now ﬁnd partners who have the same business
philosophy. The platform uses Big Data techniques to
simplify the process of procurement by making
recommendations to companies looking to be and
stay green.
20
LHBS // SUSTAINABILITY: MATCHING ECOLOGY & ECONOMY HOW DO BRANDS DO IT?

Patagonia
Environmentally friendly beer
! Explore the Sign
Patagonia Provisions - a food brand focusing on
sustainable sourcing - is entering the beer business.
The company produced soups, Buffalo jerky and
other snacks before, but the beer is new in its
product range. It launched in partnership with
Hopworks Urban Brewery as a Long Root Ale.
The beer is a breakthrough because it is made from
Kernza, a grain that doesn’t require pesticides and
uses less water. It also reduces erosion and cuts
carbon from the atmosphere.
21

Zara
Sustainable Collection & Packaging
! Explore the Sign
Zara is hopping on the sustainability train with a
collection that meets a series of internal
qualiﬁcations as the primary fabric must be Better
Cotton Initiative approved cotton or recycled
polyester; it must be manufactured with one of
Inditex's "Green to Wear" technologies; and factories
must earn a grade A or B in Inditex's environmental
sustainability standard.
"Join Life” is also a marketing tactic: in addition to
releasing the images, the brand is promoting with in-
store recycling bins and a collaborative art project
titled "Boxes with a Past" that provides artists with
Zara's 100 percent recycled boxes.
22

IKEA
Sustainable Life at Home
! Explore the Sign
Sales from IKEA’s “sustainable life at home” range
increased three-fold in 2016.
The furniture company promotes sustainable living
to customers as part of their People & Planet
sustainability program. It is focusing on making
consumer lives sustainable by offering the
“sustainable at home” product range.
The goals for IKEA's products are to only use
renewable or recyclable plastic materials by 2020
and to ensure that 100% of palm-oil used comes
from certiﬁed sources. A challenge that remains is
the reduction of waste.
23

Fairphone
Ethical & Sustainable Smartphones
! Explore the Sign
Fairphone has begun taking orders for its second-
generation ethical smartphone.
The Fairphone 2 is intended to be a more sustainable
mobile phone, with non-conﬂict minerals, a better
deal for assembly line workers, and a handset that's
designed to be repairable and longer-lasting.
The second Fairphone potentially shows a promising
future for smartphones, as the modular architecture
can not only be used to replace parts, but also enable
owners to upgrade components of their devices - for
example, upgrading the camera to a more powerful
sensor.
24

Mars
Investing in Sustainable Supply Chain
! Explore the Sign
Confectionary manufacturer Mars is investing in its
supply chain, creating new jobs in the U.S. and
making products within local communities.
Sustainability is key in the investment. Mars is
making packaging from recyclable and recoverable
materials, collaborating with peers, suppliers,
authorities and waste management companies.
New packaging formats include converting inedible
biomass into petrochemicals to create packaging and
using mixed plastic pouches.
25

Another way to become more sustainable is by transforming
waste into wealth.
The principle of “circular economy” is disrupting the way
companies source materials for their products by creating
value out of society’s “garbage”.
Brands are giving life to thrown away things by developing new
technologies to reuse plastics. New sources include plastics fished
from the oceans and emissions filtered from the air.
26
GREEN
SOURCING &
CIRCULAR
ECONOMY
IKEA: Plastic bottles
into sustainable
kitchens
Procter & Gamble:
Beach plastics into
shampoo bottles
G-Star: Ocean waste
into denim
Adidas: Illegal deep-sea
fishing nets & other
ocean waste into shoes
and apparel
Tiger Beer: Ink made
from pollution
Honda: Launching
“H2O” Water

IKEA
Kitchen Made from Old Plastic Bottles
! Explore the Sign
IKEA developed a technique to transform old plastic
bottles into kitchen cabinets.
The furniture giant created the new Kungsbacka
series that is made 100% from recycled plastics and
wood. Each kitchen cabinet uses 25 plastic bottles
that are transformed into a lamination in an
innovative procedure.
The result is a kitchen in matte black. IKEA is
continuing to increase the percentage of recycled
materials in its products. The company continuously
researches on ways to reuse materials like paper,
ﬁbers, foam and plastics in order to create new
products.
27

Procter & Gamble
Beach Plastic Shampoo Bottles
! Explore the Sign
Procter&Gamble produced the ﬁrst shampoo
packaging using 25% recycled beach plastic.
Head&Shoulders shampoo is the world’s ﬁrst to
adapt the plastic bottle made with post-consumer
recycled (PCR) beach plastic, setting a milestone in
sustainable business models and getting closer to a
circular economy. For the project to work, consumers
need to participate and collect waste as volunteers.
The bottles were developed with recycling experts
TerraCycle and SUEZ and will be available in France
starting this summer. Other P&G hair care brands
will follow, using 2,600 tons of recycled plastic every
year.
28

Tiger
Tiger Beer’s Air-Ink is Created from Pollution
! Explore the Sign
The ink made from filtered exhaust fumes is used for
pens and art supplies.
Tiger Beer, the biggest Asian beer brand, created Air-
Ink to tackle the environmental problems due to
emissions in Asia. Producing the ink is cleaning the air
and creating an additional product for further use.
Graviky Lab’s researchers came up with the process
that makes the Asian exhaust useful. Air-Ink is based
on filtered exhaust fumes that otherwise would have
ended up in peoples’ lungs. A filter is simply attached
to cars, boats or chimneys and then catches all the
particles that are exhausted. Those particles are
cleaned and then used to create colors and inks. One
Air-Ink pen contains about 40-50 minutes of diesel
exhaust.
29

G-Star
Ocean Waste into Denim
! Explore the Sign
“Raw for the Oceans” is a new collaborative project
from G-Star that retrieves plastic from oceans and
transforms it into denim.
The amount of plastic waste in the ocean is reaching
a tipping point. G-Star is aiming to start a positive
movement and help the environment by recycling
what they ﬁnd in the ocean into their new collection.
The Raw collection is designed by the musician
Pharrell Williams (in partnership with Bionic Yarn, for
which Williams serves as Creative Director). The
launch is supported with "The Plastic Age"— a
documentary produced by I-D magazine that shows
the dangers of plastic in our oceans and
demonstrates the process of turning waste into yarn
and clothes.
30

Adidas
Shoe Made out of Ocean Trash
! Explore the Sign
Adidas is turning ocean trash into recycled materials
for running shoes and apparel.
The recycling initiative is part of meeting the Adidas
group’s sustainability goals and to educate
consumers about the dire situation the ocean is in
due to plastic.
The sneaker's sole is made of sustainable cushioning,
but the upper portion of the shoe is made from
materials reclaimed from illegal deep-sea ﬁshing nets
and other waste pulled from the ocean by the Sea
Shepherd Conservation Society. The shoe is not for
sale, but more like a conceptual call to arms. The
apparel manufacturer did however conﬁrm that they
will be incorporating recycled plastic into their shoes.
31

Honda
Launch of H2O Water Brand
! Explore the Sign
To celebrate its sustainable ethos, Honda Australia
has released a line of bottled water sourced from
hydrogen emissions.
The automaker designed the Honda FCX, the world’s
ﬁrst mass production automobile that uses only
compressed hydrogen instead of petrol as its fuel.
The emissions of this car are pure H2O, perfect for
bottling and drinking. The unconventional water
brand H2O collects water not from mountain
glaciers and springs but from hydrogen emissions,
which actually are drinkable water. The
manufacturer claims that it is the ﬁrst carmaker to
release a water brand.
32

There are more ways to support sustainability besides changing
sourcing and production procedures. Brands also use the topic in
their content creation and communications:
They are sponsoring green movements, startups and/or
events, and partnering with sustainable companies to extend
their “green” image.
33
SUSTAIN-
ABILITY IN
COMMUNI-
CATION
& CONTENT
Virgin Atlantic:
Vivienne Westwood
collaboration for
sustainable uniforms
W Hotels: Partnering
with Ekocycle to make
hotel inventory
sustainable
Shell: Collaborating
with Pelé to bring
sustainable energy to a
favela
The Guardian: Working
with Unilever to create
sustainable content
Sephora: Social startup
accelerator

Virgin Atlantic
Vivienne Westwood Designs Sustainable
Wardrobe
! Explore the Sign
Former punk rock fashion icon Vivienne Westwood
revamps Virgin Atlantic's wardrobe.
Westwood, a committed political and environmental
activist, crafted many of the pieces from sustainable
materials, including a polyester yarn made from
recycled plastic bottles. Every piece was produced
through the Ethical Fashion Initiative in Nairobi in
collaboration with the United Nations International
Trade Centre (ITC).
34

W Hotels
Ekocycle Partnership
! Explore the Sign
As part of a mass initiative from the partnership
between Starwood Hotels & Resorts and will.i.am's
EKOCYCLE to promote "sustainable luxury".
While will.i.am initially created EKOCYCLE to clean
up the waste left at concerts responsibly, the
initiative has expanded to making brands aware of
their waste and environmental impact. With the new
partnership with Starwood, W Hotels will bring
sustainability into its luxury offerings, with the ﬁrst
innovation directed towards making the hotel's
bedding more sustainable. Another addition was the
bedside accessory which doubles as an alarm clock
and a portable phone charger made from recycled
Coca-Cola bottles.
35

Sephora
Startup Accelerator for Social Startups Lead by
Women
! Explore the Sign
Sephora is kicking off a new program called Sephora
Accelerate, which will put 10 early-stage startups
through a bootcamp, provide them with mentorship
and give them a stage to present at a demo later on.
The program is part of Sephora's larger social impact
agenda and is requiring that its startup applicants
also have a social-minded element in addition to a
female founder.
That could mean sourcing sustainable materials or
donating a portion of revenue to charity — the exact
impact will depend on the business at hand, which
can range from brands producing physical beauty
products to apps and services.
36

Shell
Morro da Mineira Project
! Explore the Sign
Football legend Pelé, in collaboration with Shell’s
Morro da Mineira Project, has renovated a football
pitch in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro with a
renewable energy system that collects energy from
players' movements, which is used to power
ﬂoodlights that allow for nighttime play.
The project has been applauded for providing space
that kids from the community can use after nightfall,
keeping them out of trouble. The community also
beneﬁts from the sustainable power source as it
avoids high electricity bills that would come from a
traditional lighting system.
37

Unilever & The
Guardian
Guardian’s Live Better - Unilever Partner Zone
! Explore the Sign
Guardian News and Media are providing content
about sustainability under the brand of household
goods giant Unilever.
The Guardian’s partnership with Unilever is said to
be “centred on the shared values of sustainable living
and open storytelling”.
The new Unilever content will sit within
Guardian.com and be labelled as being commercially
supported. The platform will provide interactive and
cross-media content, as well as live events.
38

Not only do companies change the way they operate, a lot of them
also enable people to live mindfully and sustainably.
By adding new services to their current portfolio and
innovating around the topic of sustainable everyday lives,
companies inspire consumers to go green.
From software and apps to transportation and architecture, green
living is promoted in all parts of life.
39
ENCOURA-
GING A
GREEN
LIFESTYLE
BuyMeBy: Online
supermarket discount
rack
Solar Eclipse: In-ﬂight
solar charger
IKEA: Launch of cargo
city bikes
IKEA: Future living
innovation lab
Greenpeace: EcoCard
business card giving
free public transport
rides
Recyclebank:
Exchanging green
behavior for eco
products
Fiction Factory:
Cardboard architecture

BuyMeBy
Online Supermarket Discount Rack
! Explore the Sign
BuyMeBy brings the discount rack to the age of
digital, with an automated process for discounting
expiring products. As half of all of the world’s food
goes to waste, supermarkets are innovating to
become more sustainable and compliant.
Services like BuyMeBy are cropping up to help this
process. The company tracks expiration dates using
inventory-management software, and automatically
lowers the prices of perishable products as they
gradually become inedible. BuyMeBuy lets
customers browse deals with a smartphone app, or
search stores’ e-commerce sites for discounted
items, which can be delivered or reserved for in-store
pick up.
40

Solar Eclipse
In-Flight Solar Charger
! Explore the Sign
Solar Eclipse is a new solar-powered window shade
with USB power outlets designed for providing
aircrafts with an ecological way to power passenger
devices.
The Solar Eclipse serves as a economical and
sustainable answer to providing power for the
electrical devices that passengers are using on their
flights. Its efficient thin film of solar cells is integrated
into the window shade and capable of converting the
high-altitude sun into 8-44 watts of energy. The high
tech shade is easy to install, and requires no changes
with the rest of the cabin.
This way airlines can inspire their passengers to use
alternative power sources and set an example.
41

IKEA
Launch of Cargo City Bikes
! Explore the Sign
IKEA’s long-awaited bike is here, and it’s built for city
living. With accessories to make moving heavy things
across busy cities, it’s well equipped to replace small
cars.
IKEA’s cargo bike, “Sladda” is available in America’s
stores, and while there is some criticism about it’s
bulky size, it could catch on if people opt for this over
a car.
The host of accessories that come with the bike make
transporting heavier items easy, and the attachable
bags can double as backpacks. The gender-neutral
design means it’s made for anyone and everyone.
42

Fiction Factory
Cardboard Architecture
! Explore the Sign
The dutch creator collective Fiction Factory
designed cardboard houses that are supposed to last
for 100 years.
The material is low cost, environmentally sustainable
and recyclable. The “Wikkelhouse” is a modular
house that can be placed nearly anywhere. The name
Wikkelhouse comes from the Dutch verb wikkelen,
meaning "to wrap." That's a reference to the process
that makes the Wikkelhouse's cardboard walls
sturdy. Each wall is made of 24 layers of standard
corrugated cardboard, which is glued together and
then wrapped up in a special foil to keep rain from
turning the Wikkelhouse into a soggy mess while
allowing trapped moisture to radiate outward.
43

IKEA
Future-Living Innovation Lab
! Explore the Sign
IKEA has opened a secret future-living innovation lab
which is combined with an exhibition space. The lab is
located in the very heart of Copenhagen.
With Space10 lab, IKEA is on a mission to keep
tracking smart and sustainable living possibilities.
The lab hosts a number of workshops, pitch nights,
design residencies, exhibitions and other
collaborative projects.
In their ﬁrst exhibition, Space10 will showcase
prototype works of several aspiring designers under
the theme: sustainability of everyday objects.
44

Greenpeace
EcoCard
! Explore the Sign
Business card doubles as a free train pass for
recipients.
The Russian arm of Greenpeace has created
EcoCard, a business card that’s getting more people
to use public transport by combining contact details
with free train rides.
The environmental charity wanted to make the paper
cards more green. In order to provide an incentive
for people to keep the cards, the organization gave
them another purpose. Although the front of the
card offers the individual’s contact information, the
back lets the recipient know that inside is a metro
card that works with the Moscow Metro System.
45

Recyclebank
Exchanging Green Behavior for Eco Products
! Explore the Sign
Recyclebank has launched One Twine, an online shop
where members of its green rewards scheme can buy
eco-friendly items with the points they’ve collected.
In order to swap their typical routine for one that’s
good for the environment, consumers often need
motivation. Recyclebank members gain points
through the completion of tasks or lifestyle changes
such as pledging to remember to turn off their lights,
or making their freezer run more efﬁciently. The
enterprise has launched its own store stocked with
goods approved for their commitment to reducing
environmental damage.
46

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?
Take-Aways
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?LHBS // SUSTAINABILITY: MATCHING ECOLOGY & ECONOMY
Chapter 3

ONE
Brands need to innovate
their supply chains &
production procedures.
That includes connecting with “like-minded” ﬁrms to create new, less harmful ingredients and/
or materials for their products and making their packaging options more sustainable.
48
LHBS // SUSTAINABILITY: MATCHING ECOLOGY & ECONOMY WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

TWO
Brands need to rethink product
design in order to reduce waste
produced by themselves and their
customers.
Instead of making products that only last for a certain amount of time, brands should develop products that are
long-lasting and repairable by consumers.
49

THREE
Brands should rethink the concept of
waste - everything can be
transformed into new value.
Not only are post-consumer recycled (PCR) materials a cost-effective source, they also contribute to cleaning up some
of the Earth’s most important ecosystems.
50

FOUR
By implementing sustainability in
their communications & content,
brands can attract new, young target
groups.
Sponsoring green movements, startups and/or events, and partnering with sustainable companies are just some ways to
create and extend a “green” image and tap into the environmentally conscious mindsets.
51

FIVE
Brands can foster a sustainable
image by enabling everyone to live
green.
Companies can extend their current portfolio and innovate around the topic of sustainable everyday lives, inspiring all
consumers to go green. From software and apps to transportation and architecture, green living is promoted in all parts
of life.
52

Die in dieser Präsentation dokumentierten Gedanken und Vorschläge sind geistiges Eigentum der  
LHBS Consulting Berlin GmbH und unterliegen den geltenden Urhebergesetzen. Die unauthorisierte Nutzung,  
die ganze oder teilweise Vervielfältigung sowie jede Weitergabe an Dritte ist nicht gestattet.
LHBS Consulting Berlin GmbH
Köpenicker Straße 154
10997 Berlin Germany
IMPRINT
www.lhbs.com
THANK YOU
53

Discover
ABOUT.
Define Develop Deliver
REPORT TITLE // ABOUT
LHBS is a marketing & innovation firm with offices in Berlin &
Copenhagen. We work with legacy organisations to adapt their
customer value proposition to meet emerging customer
expectations. Together with our clients we discover business
opportunities and deliver integrated customer offers for products,
services, experiences and communication.
! http://www.lhbs.com
ABOUT
DISCOVER DEFINE DEVELOP DELIVER

INSPIRATION
-HUB
REPORT TITLE // INSPIRATION-HUB.
This report is powered by the LHBS Inspiration-Hub.
The LHBS Inspiration-Hub is a digital platform that brings
customized insights and inspiration to the heart of your
organization. It is a digital platform that tracks changes in people,
markets and technology.
! https://inspiration-hub.com/
HUB
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