Program

Meal

 Atlantic A

 Plenary

Atlantic A

 Plenary

Atlantic A

Find connections and learn new ideas as you gather in small groups around topics that are mutually relevant and participate in discussions led by your peers. During this session you will have a chance to pick two topics and take part in meaningful discussions that will provide you with actionable ways to address tough sustainability issues in your own organization and value chains.

HSBC is the first financial institution to join TSC. Learn how the global trade bank is implementing a comprehensive sustainability approach by adopting financing, operational and risk management targets. Learn about HSBC’s commitments, and how the bank is engaging across business lines to integrate sustainability goals and help clients address sustainability challenges.

Do you have a tractor, a forklift, or a delivery truck in your value chain? Has your company made a commitment to sourcing clean energy from a renewable source, on or off the grid? Do you use a cloud server, data center, or work in a building with a backup power supply? After answering yes to one or more of these questions, join TSC and our partner, the Responsible Battery Coalition for a discussion of “State of the Charge” – the challenges that exist in our current battery supply chains and how they are being tackled through multi-stakeholder collaboration efforts.

Break

Consumers play a direct role in the sustainability-related impacts that a product has as it is used and disposed of. Changing consumer behavior can be difficult though. Research on the psychology of behavior change demonstrates there are certain approaches that are more effective than others. In this session, we’ll briefly introduce the principles of successful consumer behavior change, and then hear from organizations that have made it happen.

New to TSC or trying to learn more? Whether you’ve just joined a team that’s worked with TSC for years or you are interested in learning how TSC works and what to expect if you get involved, we will share the fundamentals of TSC, how they can be applied to your everyday, and what opportunities are available for immediate and long-term engagement and improvement in your strategies.

Does your company have plans to revise its supplier code of conduct, or are you creating your first code of conduct for your suppliers? Join us to share your ideas, successes, and challenges, and learn how TSC’s Sustainable Commodity Supply Chains Report and Framework can help you get started. Hear from companies that have used the report to review and revise their existing supplier codes of conduct, and learn how a good supplier code of conduct can help your company achieve its sustainability goals and reduce risk in commodity supply chains.

Break

For those growing and raising food in America, sustainable farming has been the foundation of their operations. As consumers’ demand for sustainably-grown food intensifies, farmers and ranchers are adopting data-driven technologies to meet that demand. Innovations in biotechnologies, traditional breeding, aerial imaging, sensors and precision agriculture allow farmers and ranchers to produce food efficiently while preserving the land’s resources. Join us for this Food Dialogues event, Sustainability 2.0: Technology in Modern Agriculture, to learn about the interconnectivity of technology, sustainability and U.S. farmers and ranchers.

Break

Atlantic Ballroom

What is the key to translating sustainability performance into buyer language? What do buyers want to see and why? What actions can be taken once sustainability performance is systematically and successfully integrated into the buying room? Join buyers from retailers implementing TSC tools and services as they discuss the needs and challenges in understanding supplier sustainability performance.

In addition to being a TSC hotspot, according to the International Labour Organization (ILO) almost 21 million people are victims of forced labor – 11.4 million women and girls and 9.5 million men and boys. Social sustainability standards have not been able to reduce those numbers for various reasons, but companies may be able to take on the risk of forced labor by identifying chain of management proxies (e.g. grievance processes, codes of conduct) that can work to reduce the risk of forced labor making its home in your supply chain.  Join this discussion as we explore how to best collaborate to squeeze out forced labor from the dark corners of the supply chain.

The Beauty and Personal Care (BPC) Initiative finalized its common approach to evaluating the sustainability of beauty and personal care products in late 2017. Hear from participating brands and retailers as to how they will be using BPC Rating System results to facilitate supplier-retailer dialogue, drive improvements in supply chains, and independently evaluate and incentivize better, more sustainable products.

Break

The food, beverage, and agricultural industry recognizes that food companies need help communicating to consumers about pesticide use in the production of the products they make and sell. They also recognize that pesticide application is heavily regulated in both conventional and organic production methods. The current situation is very binary in its approach in that either companies want to avoid pesticide use all together or set specific pound restrictions for growers, which doesn’t work well across diverse regions and commodities.

This project aims at exploring how Integrated Pest Management (IPM) can help growers better understand what food companies need and help food companies better communicate to consumers the practices that are used through the implementation of IPM on farm. It is also intended to better communicate what proper and respectable IPM includes. Come learn about the vision, goals, and mission of this project and help guide it’s progress and development.

Billions of pounds of postconsumer film (plastics bags and packaging) are produced in North America each year. Film based packaging has many benefits including: efficiency in transportation, safety, accessibility, extending shelf-life, minimizing material usage, and preserving the quality of consumer products packaged goods. Yet only a portion of the film is recovered annually for recycling. Recovery and recycling is limited by 1) Access to Collection, 2) Consumer Participation (consumer education – what and where to recycle) 3) Reclamation Capacity/Sorting Technologies, and 4) Strong end-markets. During this session we will work together to determine how to best move forward on next steps for this exciting innovation project. Come join us!

We all find ourselves needing to prove progress and growth on a regular basis. How often do you find yourself scratching your head when it’s time to show that progress? Pragmatism over time is providing this company with results, and proof! Join us to learn how and how to apply the same strategies and learn how to share them internally and publicly.

Break

As the saying goes, “Water water everywhere…nor any drop to drink.” Companies are working hard to measure, track, and manage water across their value chains, but often run into challenges when trying to set targets and reach those goals. This session will explore the challenges and solutions to setting and achieving context-based targets for water use and quality. Come learn from others and share your own insights as we discuss TSC member case studies.

A deconstructed look at soil health for cotton crops and the innovations on-farm and throughout the supply chain making an impact on the sustainability of the global textiles business. From traceability to soil health, how are we helping the grower make progress in the systems we are implementing?

What do shampoo, carpet cleaner, and furniture have in common? They all contain chemicals that may be highlighted by brand or retailer management programs. Hear from diverse perspectives throughout the supply chain on the current state of chemical management policies and the challenges faced when responding to consumer demand for safe and sustainable products.