Why leveraging innovation will ensure environment protection and sustainable development

With climate change coming out of its observatory stage for the globe to feel, sustainability has started gaining paramount significance across all industries. There are stricter regulations to protect the environment and realigning existing business practices with sustainable norms has become a mandate. Sustainability practices are the perpetual processes adopted to protect and preserve our planet. In recent years, sustainability and environmental protection have become the drivers of innovative practices in responsible organisations.

Sustainable solutions, required to meet the changing preferences, can only be accomplished through robust and continuous innovation. Our goal to ‘Invest in our planet’, by default, envelopes innovation. Innovation makes one ‘Imagine the Unimaginable’, for building a better and prosperous tomorrow. It aids the manufacturer in producing sustainable products for the consumers and also ensures the adoption of sustainable methods of production.

With increasing awareness of the environment, consumers have started giving equal prominence to physical and mental well-being in their routine lives. Consumers, these days, scrutinise products to seek the ones that are not just milder and gentle to the skin but are also greener, cleaner, and safer for the environment. It is imperative that companies adopt innovative practices in their manufacturing processes. Through innovation, the industry has witnessed concepts like water-free cleansing, green chemistry, mild surfactants, circular economy, plastic-free packaging, and much more.

Through circular economy, companies are moving from the idea of Take, Make, Use and Waste to that treating waste as a valuable resource. Resultantly, there is less emission to the environment and the development becomes more sustained. Water being another valuable resource, the concept of water-free cleaning is emerging among consumers. Recent formats of innovations (tablets, powders, etc.) and concentrated formulas are stressing on water conservation and help in reducing plastic waste. Shampoo bars that had lost their lustre, are making a comeback with the rise of the climate crisis and the importance of sustainability.

In the developed regions of the globe, amid the concerns around climate change, consumers are resorting to sustainable alternatives and ingredient safety continues to remain their top priority. Post pandemic, brands are introducing household cleaning products with antibacterial properties and adopting formulations containing natural/plant-based ingredients to mitigate consumer concerns over the use of toxic chemicals. While the concept of premiumisation is picking up momentum in the emerging markets, even today a larger segment of the population in these regions are consumers of mass and masstige products.

Across industries, innovation and technological advancements have helped in ensuring environment-friendly production processes without compromising the performance of the products. All in all, it ensures a complete value proposition across all levels of the supply chain.

It is the result of rigorous research and technology development that environmentally responsible products have been launched across industries. This includes products like the ‘Green’ laundry pods that not only reduce the use of fossil fuel-derived plastic packaging but also reduce the need for water treatment. It is estimated that there can be a yearly saving of 36 MT of CO2 emission from the reduced use of fuel and saving of nearly 15.3 lakh litres of water annually for every 1 Lakh household adoption of such pods.

Environment Protection and Sustainable Development Regulations should not be viewed as mere obligations that the organisations need to follow but should be considered as holistic mediums for a sustainable planet. To invest in our planet, for the greater good of the people is the responsibility of all businesses across industries and innovation, at every stage, lies at the core of this responsibility.

The writer is Senior Manager – Innovation at Galaxy Surfactants Limited. Views are personal.

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