From Innovation to Impact: Scaling Sustainable Chemistry in the Formulated Household and Commercial Products

Mature industries such as the formulated household and commercial product, coating, adhesive, and sealant industries face significant challenges in adopting and scaling sustainable solutions. Manufacturers experience high pressure from business and retail customers to keep costs low, discouraging formulation change. A sustainable ingredient or technology must bring an innovative or functional advantage that allows the manufacturer to drive the reformulation of an existing product or development of a new one. Further, scaling these innovations requires not only formulation advances but also investments in production infrastructure, strategic supply chain partnerships, and creative repurposing of existing facilities. Three boundary conditions drive real change: 1. Cost-in-use and scale economics for high-volume applications. 2. Application-specific performance demanded by customers and brand owners. 3. Regulatory shifts that require safe, compliant and future-proof formulations. This symposium will serve as a forum to bridge the gap between the needs of the marketplace and academic research laboratories, where many sustainable innovations start. The symposium will also explore case studies of how companies are overcoming barriers to large-scale adoption of sustainable chemistries through infrastructure adaptations, alternative sourcing strategies, and collaborative approaches across the value chain. Participants will walk away with a common language and actionable criteria that help innovators target the right niches and manufacturers de-risk adoption at scale.

Hanno Erythropel, Ph.D., Yale University

Lars Ratjen

Paul Anastas, Yale University

Peter Licence, The University of Nottingham

Hanno Erythropel, Ph.D., Yale University

Lars Ratjen

Paul Anastas, Yale University

Peter Licence, The University of Nottingham