Honda Hosts the 2019 1st Quarter Meeting of Suppliers Partnership for the Environment

The 1st Quarter meeting of Suppliers Partnership for the Environment (SP) was held last week at the Honda Heritage Center in Marysville, Ohio.  A very special thanks to Alissa Yakali and the entire Honda North America team for all of their support as meetings hosts.

SP membership meetings provide an opportunity for members to share environmental best practices and strategies with their industry peers, learn about emerging issues impacting the environment and their business operations, and to identify opportunities for collaborative action through SP. 

SP’s Vice Chair Russell Brynolf (FTS Technologies) opened SP’s 1st Quarter Meeting of 2019 and reviewed SP’s progress in 2018 and planned scope of activities for 2019. Alissa Yakali (Honda) then welcomed SP members and guests to Honda and shared information on Honda’s supply chain sustainability vision. 

The morning continued with updates on current and anticipated SP working group projects related to biodiversity, EHS, IMDS data quality, materials efficiency, responsible battery management and engagement in sustainability. 

SP members and collaborators shared updates on their respective projects and outlined next steps for those work group efforts in the coming quarter and beyond, including presentations from Kevin Butt (Toyota), James Oberlee (GM), Jack Nunes (Lear), Alissa Yakali (Honda),  Gary Vegh (ERA), John Bradburn (ERA and Pathway 21), Lisa Majchrzak (Honda), Sara Cook (Wildlife Habitat Council), Steve Christensen (Responsible Battery Coalition) and Kellen Mahoney (SP). 

In addition to SP project updates the meeting included presentations from SP members and guests on current and emerging sustainability and business issues, including Mark Patton (Smart Columbus), Amber Barnes (Pollinator Partnership), Paula Haines (Freedom a la Cart), Frank Basting (Ohio EPA), Brian Werner (Trucost) and David O’Ryan (ECOCLEAN).

The Q1 SP meeting also included meetings of SP’s EHS Forum, Materials Efficiency and Responsible Battery Work Groups to provide an additional opportunity for members to work together and develop new activities focused on shared environmental sustainability goals, with member presentations from Shane Thompson (Battery Solutions), Mark Drezdzon (RSR Technologies) and John Bradburn (ERA and Pathway 21). SP members may access presentations and minutes from the meetings on SP’s Members Only site.  

SP’s 2nd Quarter Meeting of 2019 will be held on April 23-24 at Heritage Group’s corporate campus in Indianapolis, IN. Please contact us if you’d like more information, or to learn more about SP membership opportunities.