Chemistry, Materials & Packaging
The latest developments in safe and sustainable chemicals, new materials, fuels, and more.
Meet 5 More Disruptors That Could Transform Fashion as We Know It
The H&M Foundation has unveiled the latest crop of innovators to earn its Global Change Award. The five startups share a €1 million prize pot and will participate in the Foundation’s Innovation Acceleration Program.
Forestry Day and Every Day: Don’t Overlook the ‘Urban Forest’
While it is crucial to maintain sustainability managed forests, sourcing paper fiber from them is not the only option to consider. As we all move toward creating a more circular economy, it’s important to also consider sourcing materials from the “urban forest.”
Trending: With COVID-19, It’s 2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back in Fight Against Single-Use Beverage Waste
While Starbucks trials a NextGen coffee cup solution, COVID-19 concerns lead to reusable cup bans around the globe. Meanwhile, a UK soft drink manufacturer rolls out beverages in seaweed cachets.
Trending: In Fashion, What’s Outside Also Counts
New partnerships aim to tackle the fashion industry’s packaging footprint — with circular solutions for polybags and MATCHESFASHION’s new, recyclable boxes furthering the cause.
Igniting the Healthy Building Materials Movement: A Conversation with Perkins&Will
Here, Mary Dickinson, co-director of Perkins&Will’s Material Performance Lab, sheds light on the firm’s efforts related to the environments in which we live, work and play; the market drivers for those initiatives; and the challenges and keys to success along the way.
Anti-Plastic Regulation Risks Less Sustainable Alternatives
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. Faced with shortages of suitable recycled material, a growing consumer backlash and a hostile regulatory environment, it is no wonder that some companies are shifting away from plastics. But encouraging this shift towards material choices that do little to improve end-of-life environmental impact would be the worst possible outcome for the planet.
Trending: C&A, G-Star, Genomatica Set New Course for Sustainable Textiles
The two clothing giants and the leader in bioengineering have each achieved industry-first milestones with their latest innovations — which raise the bar for sustainable denim and biobased nylon.
Tools for Healthy Buildings — at All Price Points
The Healthy Building Network’s HomeFree initiative helps leaders in affordable housing "do better" through scientific guidance and educational resources. The following insights from Billy Weber, HBN’s Collective Impact Director, were taken from a recent webinar, hosted by Shaw.
#ItsInOurHands: How Cleansing Wipes Can Be Both Convenient and Sustainable
Fact: Most personal-care wipes contain plastic and therefore can become a burden on the environment. Lenzing‘s biodegradable VEOCEL™ fibers offer an alternative solution. We talked to Jürgen Eizinger, VP of Global Business Management, Nonwovens at Lenzing, about the future of wet wipes.
Report: Overhaul of Paper, Textile Industries Can Halt Climate, Extinction Crisis in a Decade
Canopy’s ‘Pulp Thriller’ outlines a plan to save the world’s forests and climate by replacing 50% of forest fiber from pulp manufacturing with next-generation, alternative fibers such as agricultural residues and waste cotton.
More Major Retailers Are Saying ‘Forever Chemicals No More’
To paraphrase Voltaire: “With great market power comes great responsibility.” Retail market leaders are setting the pace in the transition to safer chemistry in their products and packaging. Their actions add up to saying, “Forever chemicals no more.”
Midwestern Airport Uses ‘Green’ Products to Address Common Airfield Challenges
Following positive results from a trial run, Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Int'l Airport is planning to continue using Nachurs' Alpine RF-14F® deicer for the 2019/2020 winter.
Uniting to Drive Change: The Cleaning Industry Bands Together for a Sustainable Future
We know, of course, that no matter how many bold ambitions a company has, it cannot change the world alone. But through collaborative effort, the impact companies can make is multiplied, often many times over.
Q&A: Why Sustainability Professionals Need Chemists
Chemistry may not be the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of sustainability, but it has a big role to play, particularly in a circular economy. We caught up with Christoph Jäkel, BASF’s Head of Sustainability Strategy, to learn more about how BASF is working to improve our everyday lives.
The Plastics Industry Is Changing — Because It Has to
The plastics industry has become acutely self-aware. Directive targets must be met; new processes researched, developed and launched; and consumer education delivered. And looming over all of this is the spectre of sustainability, and the demonisation of plastics.
Life Cycle Analysis: Revealing the Unexpected Truth About Product Impacts
Cross-Posted from New Metrics. Typically, the stages in a product’s life cycle that have the greatest environmental effects also are the ones that present the best opportunity for sustainable innovation. If sustainability is part of the innovation process, then LCA should be conducted to ensure the avoidance of unintended consequences.
BASF Collaboration to Develop Closed-Loop Process for Recycling EV Batteries
Cross-Posted from Cleantech. The ReLieVe project will develop and scale the process and structuring of an integrated industrial sector — from collection and recycling of end-of-life batteries, to the manufacturing of new electrode materials.
Absolut, Coca-Cola, L’Oréal Join Carlsberg’s Efforts to Improve, Scale Paper Bottles
Cross-Posted from Collaboration. Carlsberg Group has unveiled the latest iterations of the world’s first paper beer bottle made from sustainably sourced wood fibers, along with a new ‘paper bottle community’ of brands dedicated to optimizing the technology.
DuPont-Stella McCartney Partnership Yields World’s First Bio-based Faux Fur
The pioneer in sustainable luxury apparel worked with DuPont Biomaterials and Ecopel to create the next generation of luxurious alternatives to fur, resulting in a sustainable faux fur made with Sorona® bio-based fibers.
Trending: Collaborations Fostering Next-Gen Solutions for Coffee Cups, Paper Packaging
Environmental NGO Canopy rallies apparel brands around better paper packaging; and six graduates of the NextGen Circular Business Accelerator prepare to bring their their sustainable coffee cup solutions to market.
