International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre ISC3

Friedrich-Ebert-Allee 32 + 36
53113 Bonn
Germany

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Chemistry is everywhere: it is embedded in everyday products, materials and technologies, and plays a key role in solutions for health, food, energy and mobility. Chemical products and processes shape nearly all aspects of modern life and the global economy. ISC3 promotes a holistic approach to sustainability by supporting the integration of sustainable technologies, processes and products across supply chains, taking environmental, economic and social factors into account. As a global platform, ISC3 connects stakeholders from policy, the public and private sectors, industry, academia and civil society worldwide. The Centre was established in 2017 on the initiative of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency, is hosted by GIZ, and supported by DECHEMA.

Article

Ecovon – A More Sustainable Wood Alternative Made from Coconut Husks

News • Innovation

Ecovon – A More Sustainable Wood Alternative Made from Coconut Husks

Ghanaian start-up Ecovon produces coconut-husk boards as an alternative to MDF (medium-density fibreboard), made without intentionally added toxic chemicals.

Zuripacks – Pioneering Sustainable Plant-Based Packaging

News • Innovation

Zuripacks – Pioneering Sustainable Plant-Based Packaging

Kenyan start-up Zuripacks produces durable yet biodegradable packaging materials from banana pseudostems − an abundant agricultural by-product that is typically discarded.

ETB Global – Enabling Bio-Plastic and Bio-Rubber for Life and Industry

Topics • Innovation

ETB Global – Enabling Bio-Plastic and Bio-Rubber for Life and Industry

Dutch start-up ETB Global has developed a patented one-step catalytic process that converts bioethanol directly into butadiene in a single reactor.

Spark e-Fuels – Reimagining How Aviation is Fuelled

News • Innovation

Spark e-Fuels – Reimagining How Aviation is Fuelled

German start-up Spark e-Fuels is helping the aviation industry move toward more sustainable flight by developing a new, energy-efficient and cost-competitive method to produce synthetic aviation fuels.

Palki Motors – Pioneering Electric Mobility in Bangladesh

Palki Motors – Pioneering Electric Mobility in Bangladesh

Palki Motors, a groundbreaking start-up from Bangladesh, is the country’s first manufacturer of affordable electric vehicles.

Verdisol – Turning Organic Waste into Regenerative Soil Solutions

Verdisol – Turning Organic Waste into Regenerative Soil Solutions

Verdisol, an emerging start-up in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), converts local organic waste into nanocellulose, providing an innovative soil amendment that elevates agricultural productivity.

Power2Polymers – More Sustainable Polymers for the Chemical Industry

News • Innovation

Power2Polymers – More Sustainable Polymers for the Chemical Industry

Power2Polymers found a way to create more sustainable and high-performance polymer products for specialty applications, such as lubricants, industrial adhesives, and coatings for various applications.

Climasel – Optimizing Energy Efficiency

Climasel – Optimizing Energy Efficiency

The woman-led start-up from Azerbaijan develops and produces energy-efficient indoor panels, which store heat during the day and release it at night.

Bunko Junko – Transforming Fashion, Embracing Sustainability

News • Innovation

Bunko Junko – Transforming Fashion, Embracing Sustainability

Bunko Junko is a women-led Indian start-up that transforms industrial fabric scraps – typically considered waste – into unique fashion products such as clothing, decorative items, and gifts.

Green Tech Africa – Nature’s Answer to Industrial Waste

News • Innovation

Green Tech Africa – Nature’s Answer to Industrial Waste

The start-up from Congo developed an organic absorbent fibre from a local invasive plant, the water hyacinth, to clean up oil spills.

WE The Recycling Company – Creating a Closed Circuit of Electronic Products

News • Innovation

WE The Recycling Company – Creating a Closed Circuit of Electronic Products

Woman-led, Indian start-up WE The Recycling Company is dedicated to make an impact on the current handling of e-waste in India.

Human Material Loop – Innovating Tomorrow's Textiles

News • Innovation

Human Material Loop – Innovating Tomorrow's Textiles

Human Material Loop is transforming human hair into an alternative fibre for the textile industry.

Sustainable Chemistry Meets Bioeconomy: A Perfect Match

News • Chemistry

Sustainable Chemistry Meets Bioeconomy: A Perfect Match

How Sustainable Innovation Can Drive Inclusive Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean

AC Biode – Chemical Technology for a more Sustainable Future

AC Biode – Chemical Technology for a more Sustainable Future

AC Biode developed a diverse portfolio of products based on chemical technology designed to provide more sustainable alternatives to conventional practices.

Coco Custo – Clean Clothes, Cleaner Ingredients, Clean Sea

Coco Custo – Clean Clothes, Cleaner Ingredients, Clean Sea

The Indian, woman-led startup Coco Custo is pioneering more sustainable cleaning solutions with its biodegradable laundry detergent and other eco-friendly cleaning powders. Formulated primarily from plant-based ingredients and minerals, including organic oils and coconut, Coco Custo’s products are non-toxic, hypoallergenic, and free from harmful chemicals.

Mavisol – Innovative AI and Machine Vision Solutions for rPET Industry

Mavisol – Innovative AI and Machine Vision Solutions for rPET Industry

Dutch start-up Mavisol has developed an innovative machine vision and AI solution designed specifically for plastic converters, with the aim of promoting environmental sustainability and improving material reuse efficiency.

Polybion - Revolutionary Biomaterials for Forward Thinkers

Polybion - Revolutionary Biomaterials for Forward Thinkers

Mexican start-up Polybion produces a cell-based leather alternative named Celium, a versatile material made out of bacteria-grown cellulose, that can be dyed and formed into different textures.

DNACotton –Tracing the Journey of Your Fabrics and Their Sustainability Aspects

DNACotton –Tracing the Journey of Your Fabrics and Their Sustainability Aspects

DNACotton is a female-led start-up from Türkiye that has developed a blockchain-based labeling and traceability system for textiles. The solution allows for reliable monitoring and analysis of materials, from fiber production to customer delivery.

Renasens - No Waste, Only Resources

Renasens - No Waste, Only Resources

The female-led Swedish start-up Renasens has developed a clean, waterless recycling technology that transforms textile waste into valuable new resources.

Egrobots – New Technologies for a more Sustainable Agriculture

Egrobots – New Technologies for a more Sustainable Agriculture

Egrobots, a start-up from Egypt, developed a solution for efficient farm monitoring and management using AI and robotics. Their innovation includes an autonomous robot, that roams around the farm, scanning the plants on a leaf-level with high resolution and an AI that analyses this data.

Theseus Development – Pioneering a Green Built Environment with Geopolymers

Theseus Development – Pioneering a Green Built Environment with Geopolymers

The Ghanaian start-up Theseus Development produces an alternative material to cement-based concrete for the building industry called “geopolymer”. Not only is the material produced from the mineral that occurs in great abundance in the earth's crust as well as industrial waste, but the production process does not emit carbon dioxide either.

Ar-ena – Creating More Food with Less Water

Ar-ena – Creating More Food with Less Water

Ar-ena is a female-led start-up from Jordan, that produces a new type of hydrogel-polymers that absorb air humidity and convert it into water.

Vienna Textile Lab – Rethinking Colours

Vienna Textile Lab – Rethinking Colours

Austrian start-up Vienna Textile Lab produces biodegradable dyes and pigments utilizing naturally occurring microorganisms. Low-emission production, the use of renewable raw materials and the biodegradability of the final product are significant sustainability aspects of the innovation and its contribution to a circular economy.

Zila Bioworks – Revolutionizing Plastics

Zila Bioworks – Revolutionizing Plastics

The American start-up Zila Bioworks is transforming hard-tech manufacturing with drastically cleaner, greener chemistry, while supporting rural communities.

Neptunus Biotech – The Power of the Ocean in Benefit of the Soil

Neptunus Biotech – The Power of the Ocean in Benefit of the Soil

The Mexican start-up Neptunus Biotech extracts bioactive compounds from marine microalgae which are used as a bio-stimulant for crops. The assimilation of these molecules makes the plants more resistant to environmental stress.

Ecorich Solutions – Turning waste into food

Ecorich Solutions – Turning waste into food

African start-up Ecorich Solutions uses an innovative technology called “the Wastebot decomposer machine” to convert organic waste into organic fertilizer. The process involves the breakdown of organic waste using soil based microbial enzymes under a temperature regulated mechanism.

Bioweg – Revolutionizing The Future Of Bio-Ingredients

Bioweg – Revolutionizing The Future Of Bio-Ingredients

The German start-up Bioweg found a way to replace petroleum-based chemicals with innovative bio-alternatives through fermentation and green chemistry. The processing of waste products results in bacterial cellulose, which serves as a substitute for synthetic polymers and thus has diverse potential applications.

Molepse BioResources - Pioneering novel organic pesticides for grain farmers

Molepse BioResources - Pioneering novel organic pesticides for grain farmers

The Kenyan start-up Molepse BioResources has developed two products, one for small-scale and one for large-scale grain farmers, to protect their harvest from weevil attacks.

Makabi Agritech - Sustainable Agriculture and Responsible Food Production

Makabi Agritech - Sustainable Agriculture and Responsible Food Production

The Croatian start-up Makabi has created a 3-in-1 encapsulation technology for plant protection and nutrition and controlled release of bioactive components.

Plastale: Towards Sustainable Development through Material Innovation and Circular Economy

Plastale: Towards Sustainable Development through Material Innovation and Circular Economy

The Egypt-based start-up Plastale produces composite materials for different applications out of local plastic and crop waste. Their recycling process aims to be energy and cost efficient, and the start-up focuses also on creating social impact through collaboration with local communities and local waste collectors. For this reason, International Sustainable Chemistry Collaborative Centre (ISC3) features Plastale as the ISC3 Start-up of the Month for September 2023.

Block Solutions: a Sustainable and Affordable Way of Building Houses

Block Solutions: a Sustainable and Affordable Way of Building Houses

Block Solutions is a Tampere, Finland-based company that has developed environmentally friendly block-modules made of recycled plastics or in combination with local excess raw materials.

Ecopapel: Biodegradable and Reusable Paper-based Food Packaging as an Alternative to Plastics

Ecopapel: Biodegradable and Reusable Paper-based Food Packaging as an Alternative to Plastics

Colombia-based company Cali Food Papers started with new product line named Ecopapel that offers biodegradable, compostable and recyclable paper- and cardboard-based packaging for food.

Ashaya: Increasing the Value of Waste & Creating Social Impact

Ashaya: Increasing the Value of Waste & Creating Social Impact

India-based start-up Ashaya focuses on increasing the value of waste and turns this waste into high-quality materials and products that are more recyclable.

AppCyclers: Innovative Approach for e-Waste Management

AppCyclers: Innovative Approach for e-Waste Management

Ghana-based start-up AppCyclers has developed a web- and app-based solution for local electronics waste (e-waste) management services. What distinguishes these innovators is their holistic approach: With this contribution to sustainable chemistry, they not only focus on safe and efficient disposal of e-waste and material recovery. They also educate local communities about the importance of proper disposal and reducing their e-waste footprint.

Mycotex Develops Innovative Production Process for Personalized Clothing Made from Mycelium

Mycotex Develops Innovative Production Process for Personalized Clothing Made from Mycelium

With an innovative new production process, the Dutch start-up Mycotex allows for personalized clothing made from mycelium. With this contribution to sustainable chemistry the start-up aims to create a completely new supply chain for the fashion industry, an alternative to weaving, cutting and sewing.