While many western cities and firms are scrambling to find solutions and workarounds for the mountains of waste plastic, unsorted paper, textile, and slag that can no longer be sent to China, the Chinese government just doubled down on January's waste ban with an announcement that over the next 18 months there will be an additional three stages to the existing ban. It is an announcement that ha…
The amount of retired EV (electric vehicle) batteries will grow at an unprecedented rate in China. Recycling them will bring twofold benefits – reducing the consumption of raw materials for producing new batteries and minimizing potential environmental and health hazards caused by the mismanagement of battery waste. – Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (中国工业和信息化部专家) With hundred…
On Tuesday, Collective Responsibility hosted its monthly Executive Luncheon focused on Industry 4.0: AI and Impacts on Supply Chain. This invitation-only event brought together a range of business leaders who are interested in understanding how the opportunities and challenges of transitioning to an industry 4.0 economy requires them to re-calibrate their business models. Richard Brubaker, Fou…
The adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) has been hailed by some as a technological revolution set to eclipse the invention of the wheel, steam engine, automobile, or even the internet in terms disrupting economy and society. Optimists believe that AI will allow humans to accelerate productivity, squash inefficiencies, and create a world free from want. Pessimists see the accelerating pa…
Supply chains are the backbone of our global economy; they deliver the goods and services we use around the world, spanning geographic, industry and cultural boundaries. As these interconnected webs of supply and demand become more complex, how they are managed has major implications for the well-being of the workers that produce those goods, as well as society and the environment at large. Con…
Last week, Collective Responsibility held two training sessions, in Shanghai and Shenzhen, to help packaging manufacturers in China incorporate sustainability into their products through innovations in design, materials and the production process. 60 participants from paper, plastic, and wood packaging suppliers joined the sessions to find out more about the business case for sustainability, an…
We are excited to announce our next hackathon, hosted by Target Corporation on June 2-3 in Shanghai, will bring student teams will work with executives from leading technology and design communities to create a mobile app that helps connect migrant workers parents and their left-behind children. Of the 277 million rural laborers who migrate hundreds of miles away from home to China’s cities in…
“Beijing’s pollution is bad, but they'll clean their air just like London did …” In 1952, the five-day Great Smog of London killed more than 12,000 people and made over 150,000 people ill. It was an environmental disaster that many people today consider both a cautionary tale and an instructive example of how to address and overcome an air crisis for areas in similar situations – in part because…
SUSTAINABILITY: THEORY VS. REALITY When discussing sustainable business, ideas that make "big-picture" environmental sense on paper may or may not translate well into day-to-day practice. What may seem more efficient in the long-term is not always conducive to the main focus of business, the bottom line – particularly when talking about supply chain actors and retailers. This is why it's so…
Air pollution is on everyone's radar, not just in China, but throughout the world. Recent news pieces are beginning to expose the extent to which air pollution is becoming a truly global problem. From London, to Delhi, to Beijing, public consciousness of the issue is higher than ever, and politicians worldwide are being forced to act. Not a New Challenge Of course, this is nothing new for Chi…
With an increased number of reports and discussions focused on the impact of automation on jobs, there is a clear (and growing) concern in many areas of the world. It is a concern that we first studied last year as part of our work with the ILO in creating the Future of Work report. This concern, at the time, was seen as misplaced in the minds of many of the executives and factory owners we spoke…
At the beginning of 2016, we interviewed more than 100 migrant workers in Shanghai. We listened to their bittersweet life stories. One of the stories, in particular, touched our hearts. Check out the video below, and the following article explaining China's unique migration phenomenon. This is a story about 200 yuan and a dream. "Chunyun" refers to the travel season for the Spring Fest…
"There are more than 9 million left-behind children in rural China, according to the latest figure announced on Wednesday. But compared to the previous number, 52 million left-behind children have apparently disappeared." Migrants provide the lifeblood for many economies, and nowhere is this truer than in China. As China's industrial revolution took hold, millions of migrant workers floode…
This is Part One of Collective’s ongoing series on Trump, China, and the future of global energy policy. Election Aftershock The past two days have been a political frenzy. Abroad, American allies have begun to worry about treaties and long-standing partnerships. With Trump's previous statements calling China a "currency manipulator," and his plans to slap 45% tariffs on Chinese goods, the st…
In this new report we provide insight into China's manufacturing labor force. For so long the work horse of the Chinese economy, the area of manufacturing has recently undergone considerable structural change. China is transitioning into its third economic cycle there is a far greater focus on the service sector and as a result the importance of manufacturing to total GDP has diminished. Furthermo…
