This year, AkzoNobel organizes a challenge around 7 themes. As a result, top students and start-ups from all over the world were selected as finalists. Read their innovative solutions below:
The themes of the challenges are elaborated below:
Revolutionizing plastics recycling
It remains difficult to recycle plastics into materials that perform as well as traditional plastics made from oil. We are looking for ways to recycle used plastics into high performance materials, especially in areas that complement our existing technologies and are carbon-friendly. Find out more here.
Wastewater-free chemical sites
Clean water is scarce, and cleaning wastewater requires time, money and energy. We are looking for a toolbox of creative solutions to help us eliminate wastewater from our production sites. Find out more here.
Cellulose-based alternatives to synthetics
Products derived from cellulose are a sustainable alternative to products made from oil. While cellulose products are already used in a range of applications, such as paints and as thickeners in food, we are looking for ways to improve the performance of cellulose products and expand their use into new applications. Find out more here.
Bio-based and biodegradable surfactants and thickeners
Making surfactants and thickeners that are truly sustainable, i.e. bio-based, derived from non-food sources AND biodegradable, remains a challenge. We are looking for ways to make surfactants and thickeners which are sustainable, as well as safe to use and competitively priced. Find out more here.
Bio-based sources of ethylene and/or ethylene oxides
Our second biggest purchase item, ethylene, is currently 100% petroleum-based. This ethylene is then converted to ethylene oxide. We are looking for ways to generate ethylene and/or ethylene oxide from a bio-based source or a reduced carbon emission source. Find out more here.
Sustainable alternatives to our current technologies
We are looking for partners to help us innovate across our business, to make our business more sustainable and enable organic growth, and ways to improve our chemistry, our products and applications and our process technologies. Find out more here.
Highly reactive chemistry & technology
The Deventer Open Innovation Center (DOIC) offers access to unique process know-how and a safety lab in the field of highly reactive chemistry and technology. We are looking for businesses with a proof of concept who are interested in scaling up from lab to pilot scale. Find out more here.
source: AkzoNobel