Last year, CleanGredients launched a partnership with the Swedish nonprofit ChemSec, allowing CleanGredients suppliers to market their product on ChemSec’s new Marketplace platform. Marketplace has users from around the world, especially in Europe, South Asia, and North America, who are part of a broad range of industries including textiles, metal finishing, aerospace coatings, automotive, printing, pulp and paper, and specialty chemicals. The B2B platform gives suppliers of safer alternatives an opportunity to share information about their products, and it is currently free of charge for both suppliers and users.
Since CleanGredients and ChemSec Marketplace began our partnership, both platforms have experienced growth, showing the growing market demand in this sector. The total number of safer alternatives advertised in the Marketplace platform has more than tripled, and traffic to the site has also shown significant growth. During the same time period, CleanGredients has also grown to list more than 700 ingredients, and added ingredients in new functional classes, including defoamers and specialized industrial chemicals.
As Marketplace has expanded its safer alternatives into new product categories, including cleaning product ingredients, the platform allows users to filter alternatives by multiple attributes, such as sector of use and technical function. Additionally, users can find alternatives that meet specific requirements and standards, including those that are listed in CleanGredients. In addition to cleaning product ingredients, the platform offers safer alternatives for use in multiple other sectors, such as textiles, electronics, building materials, and packaging.
Marketplace not only provides a platform for suppliers of safer alternatives to advertise their products; it also allows those looking for alternatives to share requests. For example, currently the platform contains requests for suppliers of bio-based surfactants with low aquatic toxicity and biodegradable chelating agents. This service aims to connect product formulators and manufacturers hoping to phase out less-than-optimal ingredients with suppliers that are developing innovative and safer solutions.
All suppliers of CleanGredients-listed ingredients are eligible to advertise those ingredients on Marketplace, with no additional review required. This is an opportunity for ingredient suppliers to gain exposure to a broader international market and be recognized for their efforts to develop safer alternatives.
Marketplace is not ChemSec’s only initiative. The organization’s other initiatives to promote safer chemistry include the SIN list of hazardous chemicals recommended for substitution, as well as the SINimilarity tool, which helps identify chemicals that are structurally similar to those on the SIN list. Recently, the organization published a report on the importance of safer chemicals in the circular economy, promoting more proactive thinking on the chemicals used in commerce to ensure that they are safe to use in their next life.
ChemSec’s resources can be valuable tools for companies looking to embrace safer chemistry in their supply chain. If your company has an alternative that fulfils the criteria for advertising on Marketplace, or you are looking for an innovative safer alternative to a hazardous chemical, Marketplace may be a helpful platform to connect with others in the global supply chain and share information about safer alternatives to hazardous chemicals.