Product, Service & Design Innovation
The latest products, services, design approaches and business models that are helping organizations of all sizes deliver on their sustainability ambitions and establish a new business as usual.
SB’20 Yokohama: Collaboration, Co-Creation Tackling the Challenges Facing Japan and the World
Cross-Posted from Collaboration. On the theme of “Delivering the Good Life,” SB'20 Yokohama was held on February 19–20 in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, just outside of Tokyo. The fourth SB conference in Japan attracted 231 speakers and more than 3,300 attendees, making it the largest-scale event in the global Sustainable Brands community.
SB Corporate Members Collaborate to Drive Circular Innovation
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. When BASF and its customer and fellow Sustainable Brands Corporate Member, Stanley Black & Decker, realized they had similar interest in recycling technologies for plastics and battery materials, they decided to launch an innovation challenge.
Apple, Google Team Up on Contact-Tracing System for COVID-19
Cross-Posted from Collaboration. If only we had a reliable system for tracking the spread of the coronavirus, and future outbreaks … The two tech giants are collaborating on just that — and they insist it won’t compromise public privacy.
Fibersort Technology Could Be Game-Changing for Recycling Post-Consumer Textiles
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. The tech can separate collected textiles by fiber composition and color into precise recycling feedstocks and return them to the supply chain — but studies show consumers need to drive the garment industry to use more recycled content in their products.
Meet 5 More Disruptors That Could Transform Fashion as We Know It
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. 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.
IBM’s 2020 Call for Code Challenge Takes on Both Climate Change and COVID-19
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. The annual challenge aims to address society’s most pressing issues; which is why this year, IBM is asking developers, data scientists and problem solvers to address two urgent crises that have the power to compromise our health, our planet and our survival.
Trending: Food Startups Find Creative Ways to Release Products Without Expo West
Necessity is the mother of invention. That’s what led many entrepreneurs to create their product or service innovations in the first place — and that adage is definitely in play as businesses large and small are forced to pivot, almost daily, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold.
The Continued Evolution of Plant-Based Products — and the Ones We’re Not Hearing About
We must look at all categories where we can offer plant-based and sustainably sourced choices for intentional consumers. There has never been a time where we need to be more collectively conscious of the products we consume, and acknowledge their impacts on our long-term health.
New Tool Shows Billions at Stake in Meat Sector Due to Climate Concerns
Cross-Posted from Finance & Investment. $20T investor network releases first-of-its-kind tool to model the financial impacts of climate change on five leading meat firms and the animal protein sector at large.
Trending: With COVID-19, It’s 2 Steps Forward, 1 Step Back in Fight Against Single-Use Beverage Waste
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. 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: The Rise and Rise of Plant-Based Proteins
Impossible Foods announces another step in its journey toward world domination; while conventional protein giants Bumble Bee and Cargill get in on the meat-free fun with a new partnership, private-label plant-based products.
Indigenous Innovations Provide Blueprint for Climate-Resilient Design
A new book, "Lo—TEK: Design by Radical Indigenism," highlights centuries-old technologies that provide a powerful toolkit for sustainable architecture and design in the modern age.
Report: Digital Sector Can Lead Transformative Systems Change for Climate-Stable Future
A new report by Future Earth asserts that digital transformations unfolding today could help enable the systems transformations necessary for mitigating the climate crisis.
Microsoft, Danone Partner to Advance AI-Based Sustainable Food Solutions
Cross-Posted from Collaboration. The companies will jointly support funded European startups with artificial intelligence-based solutions for sustainable food and regenerative agriculture in a three-month accelerator.
Trending: Fresh Approaches to Managing Fashion’s Footprint
Cross-Posted from Behavior Change. While Burberry delivers another carbon-neutral runway show and works to “inset” its emissions, a new report quantifies the staggering amount of travel emissions generated during a season’s worth of major fashion weeks.
Trending: Visions of a New Energy Future from Vattenfall, BP?
Cross-Posted from Cleantech. Two strikingly different displays emerged this week, as the energy companies shared their visions of how we might achieve a global clean energy future.
Trending: Inventive Solutions to Food Waste Continuing to Grow
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. Here, we have 3 examples of startup innovation at its finest — with stellar solutions from Ambrosia, Back to the Roots, Treasure8 and Shameless Pets promising to bite off a chunk of the US’ massive food waste issue.
Trending: C&A, G-Star, Genomatica Set New Course for Sustainable Textiles
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. 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.
Will We Get Closer to Circularity in 2020?
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. While the concept of a circular economy has made its way into the public consciousness; unfortunately, as of 2018, circularity globally is only at 9%. In order for circularity to deliver on its potential in this decade, we’ll need to see more of the following …
Don’t You (Forget About P)
Cross-Posted from Finance & Investment. Every product (P) has an impact on the consumer and society. Yet it appears that what all ESG ratings fail to do is evaluate the impact on the positive and negative externalities of a company’s P. While ESG looks at operational aspects of a business, P is the part that ESG seemingly forgot.
