Kickstart: Going beyond carbon neutral

Leading office furniture maker Steelcase Inc. says it has hit a goal of being a carbon neutral company. Now it wants to help its supply base improve their carbon footprint as part of a move toward becoming "carbon negative."

"This means the company expects to reduce absolute emissions from its own operations by 50 percent by 2030 and cut indirect emissions from business travel and waste generated in operations," the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based company said. "Since most of its emissions are considered indirect ... Steelcase plans to engage with suppliers to set their own science-based targets by 2025."

Steelcase doesn't have in-house plastics molding, but it works with a wide range of suppliers for its chairs, desks, office cubicles and other accessories.

Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Co. are about to hand off their role in the "Arsenal of Health."

GM and medical equipment maker Ventec Life Systems are in the "home stretch" toward completing a contract to deliver 30,000 critical care ventilators by the end of August under a $489 million contract with the federal government, the automaker said in a story from our sister publication Automotive News.

Ford has assembled about 47,000 of the 50,000 ventilators it agreed to supply to partner General Electric Co. for the U.S. stockpile use.

That doesn't mean that the companies who have supplied plastics parts for those ventilators are done, though. Ventec, for instance, will take over production of the machines in Kokomo, Ind.

How about something a little lighter, to remind us of those days of beach vacations? Maybe something like the University of California San Diego's work on flip-flops made using biodegradable, bio-based polyurethane foam.

UCSD says flip-flops are the world's most popular shoe, but they also show up as rubbish on beaches and in oceans.

The work by the university and startup company Algenesis Materials uses an algae-based material in the footbed that will biodegrade. So far the flip-flop has just a little more than 50 percent biodegradable content, but the researchers are working on a way to commercialize the concept.