Last week at the World Expo in Milan, The Coca-Cola Company unveiled a PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant materials. [ + ]

Small to medium-sized businesses now have the opportunity to cut their energy and operating costs with access to discounted funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy upgrades, thanks to a new initiative by NAB and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). [ + ]

The inaugural Engineers Australia Future Tech Forum, part of the ACI Connect conference being held in Sydney in August, will feature a strong line-up of expert speakers covering a range of hot automation, control and instrumentation industry topics.

To coincide with World Environment Day last Thursday, Kimberly-Clark, in partnership with WWF-Australia and Banksia Foundation, hosted a leadership forum to discuss the role of NGOs, businesses and brands in inspiring a sustainable future. [ + ]

Accounting firm RSM Bird Cameron has stated that businesses and industries looking to participate in the next Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) auction must act now. [ + ]

Panasonic Australia has announced pilot projects with ActewAGL, Snowy Hydro's Red Energy and Ergon Energy to install its new battery technology in solar-installed homes for the first time. [ + ]

Dennis Eagle has developed a truck prototype which uses an IntelliGas High Density Compressed Natural Gas (HDCNG) Fuel Storage System. The natural gas fuel system is said to be a world first, providing the ability to perform a full shift of between nine and 10 hours without the need to refuel. [ + ]

Emerson has announced its acquisition of Energy Solutions International (ESI), a global supplier of decision support software and services that are said to enhance operational efficiency, commercial profitability and safety across the oil and gas pipeline, storage, marketing and distribution functions. [ + ]

Environment Minister Greg Hunt last week introduced controversial legislation that would allow the burning of native forests for electricity generation to be included as a source of renewable energy under the amended Renewable Energy Target (RET) - and it looks like some companies are already planning for this eventuality. [ + ]

Researchers from the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) have developed a roof surface that will stay cooler than the ambient air temperature - even under the mid-summer Australian sun. [ + ]

Tyre recycler Tyrecycle has been called on to clean up 3000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres abandoned at Pinkenba in Brisbane. The thousands of end-of-life passenger, all-wheel-drive, truck and earthmoving vehicle tyres set off numerous safety and environmental alarms for Tyrecycle. [ + ]

Brisbane's new energy-saving program 'Reduce Your Juice' has been launched to help lower the cost of living for Brisbane's low-income renters, with program participants having the opportunity to save up to 19% off their average annual electricity bill. [ + ]

The Australian Smart Lighting Summit, to be held from 8-9 September at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, will draw over 150 lighting industry experts who will discuss strategies and new technologies for public lighting retrofits aimed at reducing energy consumption and costs. [ + ]

With the help of $1.3 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA), CSIRO has established unique indoor and outdoor testing capabilities to predict how different solar photovoltaic (PV) systems will perform on Australian shores. [ + ]

ANZ has announced a new partnership with the Australian Water Association (AWA) to support the latter's water and wastewater management programs in South-East Asia. [ + ]