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Chemistry, Materials & Packaging

The latest developments in safe and sustainable chemicals, new materials, fuels, and more.

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Marci Zaroff: Regenerative Ag Can Heal the Textile Industry — and the Planet

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. Entrepreneur and author Marci Zaroff coined the term ‘eco-fashion’ back in the mid-‘90s. Here, we discuss why sustainable fashion has taken so long to have its ‘moment’ and how regenerative ag could heal the planet along with the damaging textile industry.

Clearing the Way for Action: The Need for Coordination, Consistency to Close the Loop on Plastics

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. Dow aims to not only provide more sustainable products, but to share our expertise to support people and our planet’s wellbeing. For that expertise to reach its highest potential, it must be backed by international cooperation at every level.

New Design Challenge Seeks Sustainable Solutions for Unit-Dose Medicine Packaging

Cross-Posted from Our Healthy Lives Mission. Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health developed its QuickFire Challenge platform to enlist students, entrepreneurs, researchers and startup companies to help tackle some of the most challenging problems in healthcare.

Mighty Buildings Now Further Reduce Carbon Footprint of Homes with CO2-Based Cement

New partner Fortera’s material converts carbon dioxide into cement, reducing CO₂ emissions by more than 60% — and costs 10% less than conventional cement.

Large-Scale Study from H&M, IKEA Shows Safer Path Forward for Recycled Textiles

On completion of a two-year, collaborative industry study, the two companies will share the findings to understand potentials and challenges with recycled textiles from a chemical-contamination perspective and to impact circular economy legislation.

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Craft Brewer Extols Benefits of Pivot to Better Packaging

Through materials innovation and technology advances, the packaging industry can be a critical component in working toward a world without waste and a truly closed-loop, circular economy.

How Formosa Plastics Is Nurturing Biodiversity in Texas

In 2020, the team at the Formosa Agricultural and Environmental Research Center, located at the site of the company’s Texas plant, began concurrent production of honeybees, native flowering plants and native trees as part of an effort to enrich the area’s biodiversity.

Better Living Through Better Chemistry: A Conversation with John Warner

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. While the use of green chemistry is critical to mitigating adverse environmental impacts, there remains a gap in education of chemists and an overall lack of awareness in the industry. We sat down with John Warner, one of the founders of the field, to better understand how green chemistry is helping to enable a more sustainable future through science.

The Road to Zero Waste Is Paved with Incremental Changes

Shifting to new packaging formats can feel daunting for brands because of perceived costs and anticipated operational downtime. But through incremental changes, companies can reduce reliance on less sustainable materials in an efficient, cost-effective and scalable way.

Trending: lululemon, Pangaia Push Plant-Based Fabrics Further

lululemon’s latest partnership aims to replace conventional nylon in its products with bio-based; while two new blends from Pangaia are the brand’s latest step to delivering sustainable alternatives to overproduced materials such as cotton.

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Industry Leaders Co-Creating Groundbreaking Framework to Evolve Packaging Recyclability

Designing a package to be recyclable is currently complex and ambiguous, with no transparent national framework or guidelines in place. The Pathway to Circularity Recyclability Framework will be open for comment for 30 days, beginning August 19.

New Podcast Focuses on Sustainability ‘Game Changers’ Including Advanced Recycling, Circularity Policy

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. Since we last dove into “Plastics Unwrapped,” Dow and its guests have continued to cover some of the most impressive innovations in the plastics industry, while also exploring solutions to our most daunting sustainability challenges.

CVS Health, Target, Walmart Piloting Alternative Bag Solutions to Combat Plastic Waste

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. The partnership among the leading retailers’ different stores sets an exciting precedent; collaboration will help accelerate pathways to scale and help address the systemic challenge of plastic bag waste.

Pushing Beyond Infinite: How Circular Plastics Can Help Reduce GHGs

Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. As issues caused by plastic waste and climate change come to a head, finding new uses for end-of-life plastics and other materials will be vital to achieving a low-carbon future.

Unilever to Ditch Fossil Fuel-Based Ingredients for Computer-Designed Enzymes in Cleaning Products

A partnership with biotech company Arzeda will see the companies computer designing new enzymes with superior benefits to help clean up the cleaning industry.

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LanzaTech, lululemon Partner to Create First Fabric Made from Recycled Carbon Emissions

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. The carbon-capture experts and the high-end yoga pants purveyor have developed a waste-gas-based polyester with the same appearance, properties and functionality of virgin polyester — a lower-carbon potential game-changer for the apparel industry.

L’Oréal, Nestlé Waters, PepsiCo, Suntory Unveil World’s First Enzymatically Recycled Bottles

Food-grade sample bottles produced by a consortium of companies dedicated to the cause are using Carbios' breakthrough enzymatic recycling process.

Trending: Burberry, Gucci Strut Ever Closer to Sustainability

Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. The luxury fashion giants continue to lead the industry toward a cruelty-free and climate-resilient future — Gucci with its new, biobased, animal-free textile; and Burberry with its bar-raising goal to be climate positive by 2040.

Best Intentions: Surviving a Sustainability Story Setback with Transparency and Truth

Cross-Posted from Walking the Talk. When Kevin Murphy announced that all of its packaging would be made from “plastic pulled from the ocean,” it had every intention of delivering that. While the claim was doomed from the start, the company quickly communicated its mistake with tact, transparency and a plan to make it right.

Johnson & Johnson Consumer Health Advances Field of Skincare for Cancer Patients

Cross-Posted from Our Healthy Lives Mission. During oncology treatment, patients’ skin requires special care. Products such as Aveeno® Restorative Skin Therapy can help patients of all skin types avoid severe cutaneous adverse reactions, so they can focus on life-saving therapies.

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