ISC3 is look­ing for innov­at­ive solu­tions in the field of Sus­tain­able Chem­istry for textiles

Which innov­at­ive ideas in Sus­tain­able Chem­istry have the poten­tial to improve the tex­tile sec­tor? This is the ques­tion posed by the Inter­na­tion­al Sus­tain­able Chem­istry Col­lab­or­at­ive Centre (ISC3) in the Innov­a­tion Chal­lenge 2024. Start-ups and innov­at­ors from all over the world can now apply with their answers and solu­tions in the field of Sus­tain­able Chem­istry for the annu­al ISC3 innov­a­tion com­pet­i­tion, which is once again endowed with a total of EUR 25,000. The applic­a­tion peri­od star­ted on 1 Novem­ber 2023 and the ISC3 will accept applic­a­tions until 1 March 2024. 

“Sus­tain­able Chem­istry plays a cru­cial role in trans­form­ing the tex­tile industry to achieve the UN Sus­tain­able Devel­op­ment Goals. For this reas­on, we want to address, reward and pro­mote Sus­tain­able Chem­istry start-ups and their ori­gin­al solu­tions for the tex­tile sec­tor as part of this year’s ISC3 Innov­a­tion Chal­lenge,” says Dr Alex­is Bazzan­ella, Dir­ect­or of the ISC3 Innov­a­tion Hub. 

Fur­ther inform­a­tion and registration

With the fifth innov­a­tion com­pet­i­tion, in 2024 ISC3 is look­ing for innov­a­tions in the field of Sus­tain­able Chem­istry and tex­tiles, par­tic­u­larly in the fol­low­ing main areas:
Envir­on­ment­ally benign pro­duc­tion:
• Sub­sti­tu­tion of harm­ful chem­ic­als in tex­tile and leath­er man­u­fac­tur­ing
• Altern­at­ive pro­cesses, e.g. use of enzymes for leath­er tan­ning
Altern­at­ive mater­i­als and feed­stock:
• Use of altern­at­ive fibre feed­stock, e.g. pre- and post-con­sumer fibre waste and agri­cul­tur­al waste
and recycled tex­tile waste in tex­tile pro­duc­tion
• Altern­at­ive mater­i­als, e.g. nat­ur­al altern­at­ives to syn­thet­ic fab­rics or vegan leath­er altern­at­ives
Waste min­im­iz­a­tion and recyc­ling:
• Mater­i­al-effi­cient man­u­fac­tur­ing of fab­rics and gar­ments
• Mech­an­ic­al recyc­ling of tex­tile fibres and fab­rics
Altern­at­ive busi­ness mod­els:
• Social entre­pren­eur­ship improv­ing the tex­tile sup­ply chain and con­trib­utes to local/​regional
employ­ment
• Chem­ic­al leas­ing con­cepts for tex­tile chem­ic­als, dyes, etc.

The final­ists selec­ted by the inter­na­tion­al jury will receive access to cus­tom­ised sup­port through the ISC3 Glob­al Start-up Ser­vice as well as pitch train­ing, net­work­ing oppor­tun­it­ies and vis­ib­il­ity through the ISC3 com­mu­nic­a­tion channels. 

The ISC3 Glob­al Start-up Ser­vice is the world’s first pro­gram to offer com­pre­hens­ive sup­port to innov­at­ors in Sus­tain­able Chem­istry. The unique pro­gram sup­ports start-ups based on their needs and provides dir­ect access to tal­ent, experts and stake­hold­ers by bring­ing togeth­er the rel­ev­ant play­ers to find the right solutions.

The win­ner of the Innov­a­tion Chal­lenge 2024 will receive prize money of EUR 15,000. In addi­tion, the win­ners of two fur­ther cat­egor­ies, namely ​“Best Region­al Impact” and ​“Best Social Impact” or ​“Spe­cial Impact”, will receive prize money of EUR 5,000 each. 

Applic­a­tions sub­mit­ted by innov­at­ors and entre­pren­eurs from the Glob­al South and ideas that address chal­lenges in devel­op­ing coun­tries are par­tic­u­larly encour­aged. The final­ists will be offi­cially announced at the end of June 2024. They will pitch for the Innov­a­tion Award at the ISC3 Investor For­um in autumn or winter 2024.