With plastic items continually growing in usage and many polluting the environment when disposed of, innovators, scientists and entrepreneurs around the world are being called upon to help fundamentally rethink the way we use plastics so they don’t become waste in the first place.
 
To support this cause, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in partnership with leading global innovation firm NineSigma, has announced the launch of the Circular Materials Challenge to make all plastic packaging recyclable. Solution providers are competing for up to $1 million in grants to be shared equally by up to five winners. The challenge has been scoped in close coordination with the initiative’s more than 40 participants, including Core Partners Amcor, The Coca-Cola Company, Danone, MARS, Novamont, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Veolia. Here is a video to learn more about the plastics problem and contest.
 
Winners of the challenge will also have access to The New Plastics Economy Innovation Accelerator, a 12-month program offering exclusive connections with industry experts, commercial guidance, feedback on user and scalability requirements, advice on performance expectations, and entry to innovation labs for testing and development.
 
The Circular Materials Challenge is part of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s $2 million New Plastics Economy Innovation Prize, launched in collaboration with The Prince of Wales’s International Sustainability Unit, to help build a circular economy for plastics by developing new materials, redesigning packaging, and eliminating waste. The prize is funded by Wendy Schmidt, lead philanthropic partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative.
 
“If we want to effect broad systems change, we need to rethink the way we make plastic items,” said Dame Ellen MacArthur, founder, Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “That’s why we are calling for scientific and technical experts from around the globe to help us keep these materials in the economy, and out of the ocean.”
 
About 13% of today’s packaging is made of layers of different materials fused together. This multi-layer construction meets important needs like keeping food fresh, but also makes the packaging hard to recycle. The challenge, therefore, invites innovators to find alternative materials that can be recycled or composted.
 
The judging panel for the challenge consists of senior executives from major businesses, widely recognized scientists, designers and academics. Solutions will be assessed against a broad range of criteria carefully crafted in collaboration with the challenge partners and participants of the New Plastics Economy initiative.  
 
Responses to the Circular Materials Challenge are due by October 20, 2017 at 5:00 PM US EDT. Solution providers can submit proposals through NineSigma’s Open Innovation community NineSights.com. 

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