Start-ups, scale-ups and universities solve chemical challenges
Chemical group Nouryon is organising the Imagine Chemistry competition for the third time this year. Among others, start-ups, scale-ups and universities are challenged to solve chemical challenges.
Nouryon is collaborating with major parties this year, including Unilever. Nouryon has been organising the Imagine Chemistry competition since 2017. To focus the competition more on business opportunities, Nouryon is partnering with three major companies: industry giant Unilever, German investment fund High Tech Gründerfonds and the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3), a collaborative fund that seeks to promote sustainable chemistry.
"A partnership is the key to success. We are very happy to add more organisations to our Imagine Chemistry network. Unilever is one of our key customers," states Charlie Shaver, CEO of Nouryon.
Five areas
Solutions for 2019 will be sought in five categories. In collaboration with Unilever, sustainable, non-hazardous biobased surfactants are being sought. These are substances that become active when water is added, like washing-up liquid. In addition, Nouryon is also seeking input for solutions to make its own chemical production processes as efficient as possible. The category 'pushing the frontiers of chemical innovation' is all about innovative ideas to make chemistry more sustainable. Twenty finalists will be chosen in May and invited to further develop their ideas.
In 2017, Dutch start-up Filigrade was one of the winners. The company developed a watermarking technology that applies an invisible watermark to plastic packaging. The watermark contains information about the manufacturer and the product, making the product more recyclable. Another application of the watermark is to confirm the authenticity of a product. The laminate industry, for example, counteracts counterfeiting in this way.
Source: https://www.duurzaambedrijfsleven.nl/industrie/30803/nouryon-unilever
