The latest developments in safe and sustainable chemicals, new materials, fuels, and more.
Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. A collaboration between Dow and New Energy Blue aims to make a new biomass refinery in Mason City, Iowa a linchpin in a massive, circular shift for the plastics industry.
Long shipping routes, rising fuel and transportation costs, and concerns about the carbon footprint of food supply chains have driven many companies to reconsider their packaging options for greater efficiency.
Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. Although some return-to-office policies might still be met with resistance, employees and employers can feel better about returning when buildings are safer and more sustainable — thanks to advancements in materials science.
Update to 2025 Roadmap carries forward unfinished targets from the original plan and outlines new steps toward circular design, based on insights from 130+ US Plastic Pact Activators.
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. The spirits giant has expanded its partnership with ecoSPIRITS, whose closed-loop packaging system reduces waste and emissions from the production and transportation of bottled beverages.
Not at this rate: In one corner, industry bodies and petrochemical companies call for enhanced recycling and the increased use of materials with recycled content. In the other, climate campaigners continue to push for cuts in production — an argument that won’t be resolved anytime soon.
The group — comprised of seven higher-end wine producers — is bringing a decidedly hip, modern update to a segment with a big perception issue.
Researchers at Kobe University have engineered bacteria to produce a plastic modifier that makes bioplastic more processable, more fracture resistant and highly biodegradable —which holds great potential for enabling sustainable plastic production.
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. New initiatives from Kiehl’s, Sephora, Shoppers Drug Mart and Ulta lay further groundwork for reducing the beauty industry’s massive plastic footprint.
While Walkers and the British Crisp Co shift to paper, Mars embraces digital simulation software to slash its amount of plastic needed.
Wine packers such as Sonoma-based Free Flow Wines are taking advantage of the reduced stigma of stainless steel-bound wine, along with increased ambitions from winemakers to reduce their packaging footprint.
Colorifix's technology uses DNA sequencing to replicate nature's hues into sustainable pigments, curbing the industry's overreliance on water- and chemical-intensive dyeing processes.
We’re constantly exploring ways to achieve the functional benefits of plastic with fiber-based packaging alternatives, so that no one walking down a grocery store aisle must choose between function and sustainability.
By designing with the end in mind and considering durability, construction, recyclability and production, designers who create products with ‘lower-cost’ ingredients bring us one step closer to a circular economy.
Winners of this year’s Green Chemistry Challenge Awards include Modern Meadow’s Bio-FREED technology — which uses bio-based proteins to create a sustainable dyeing process that can be applied to any type of fiber and uses 95% less water, 75% less energy and 80% fewer dyes and chemicals than traditional dyeing methods.
The brand has partnered with Samsara Eco to extract nylon 6,6 from end-of-life textiles, demonstrating the potential to create a fully circular ecosystem for apparel.
Amcor is ramping up usage of an industry-standard, 750-ml version of a recycled PET bottle with technology that’s long been in use in smaller formats.
Labels will be replaced with an embossed logo on Sprite and Sprite Zero 500ml rPET bottles as part of a UK trial designed to reduce use of packaging materials.
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. Ford engineers are conducting trials on parts made from 40% olive tree fibers and 60% recycled plastic — which is heated and injection-molded into the shape of the selected part.
Assessing how products resonate with consumers and using those insights to refine them is a critical part of product development — and just one way that strategic insights add value for brands.