Press Release: $175,000 Prize Pool for the Development of New, Safe and Effective Preservatives
- Details
- Tuesday, 25 April 2017
The Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) and InnoCentive have launched a global competition to identify innovators developing preservatives with improved environmental health and safety profiles for use in cosmetics, personal care and household products. A prize pool of $175,000 is available.
P&G and J&J are among the sponsors of the contest, which will award three to five cash prizes from the $175,000 prize pool, with a minimum single prize award of $25,000. The competition is open to broad-spectrum or single action chemical agents effective on gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria, yeast and mold, as well as preservative boosters and multi-functional ingredients which have a primary non-preserving function yet enhance antimicrobial efficacy.
Preservatives are substances which slow microbial growth and prevent contaminants from spoiling the appearance and smell of a product. Added to foods and many household and personal care products, preservatives can be found in items ranging from shampoos and hand creams to laundry detergents.
Regulatory bans and restrictions, coupled with increasing stakeholder concerns around the potential health impacts of several widely-used chemicals, are reducing the current palette of acceptable preservatives. Due to these issues, seventeen competition sponsors are looking for novel preservatives – or preservative boosters – effective in protecting consumer products from contamination. The sponsors are looking to partner with innovators to co-develop, license or invest in new technologies to speed them to market.
“RB is excited to partner with GC3 and others to accelerate the development of novel safe and effective preservatives which play a critical role in providing consumers with safe products,” said Jennifer Duran, Director Product Sustainability at Reckitt Benckiser (RB).
"At Target, we’re committed to delivering better-for-you products to our guests and investing in chemical innovation is a critical component of this commitment,” said Jennifer Silberman, Chief Sustainability Officer at Target. "Our partnership with GC3 will allow us to collaborate with key industry partners to help accelerate our work to bring new, safe and effective preservatives to market for our guests,” added Silberman.
Up to five finalists will be invited to present their technologies at a US meeting in the first quarter of 2018, and to network with representatives from consumer product companies, major retailers, and preservative suppliers. All competition submissions will gain significant visibility and receive feedback.
The Competition for New Preservatives is sponsored by: Babyganics, Beautycounter, Beiersdorf, Colgate-Palmolive, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Kao USA, Method – People Against Dirty, Procter & Gamble (P&G), Reckitt Benckiser (RB), SC Johnson, Unilever, Target, Walmart, Dow Microbial Control, Lonza, Schülke, Thor, Environmental Defense Fund and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.
The competition can be accessed here: https://www.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/9933978
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About the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council
Started in 2005, the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3) is a cross sectoral, business-to-business network of more than 100 companies and other organizations working collaboratively to accelerate the application of green chemistry across industry sectors and supply chains. Green chemistry is the design of chemical products and processes that reduce or eliminate the use and generation of hazardous substances.
http://www.greenchemistryandcommerce.org
About InnoCentive
Established in 2001, InnoCentive helps organizations tackle their critical business, scientific and technical problems by crowdsourcing ideas and solutions, either from InnoCentive’s global network of problem solvers or from their own internal networks. InnoCentive offer their Challenge Driven InnovationTM methodology, purpose-built platform and global network of problem solvers, as well as accompanying consulting, training and program management services.
Media Contact:
Monica Becker
Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3)
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Office: 203-614-8275
Cell: 585-748-9123
