Supply chain drive for sustainably manufactured products gets £4.5 million backing

The funding will be awarded via a competition that opens on 3 October 2011 and is to help companies having access to the market –end-users – mobilise their supply chains to provide innovations that are precisely targeted to currently unmet end-user needs. Proposals should be collaborative and led by a business, and must clearly present the benefits. Up to £500,000 is available, with projects expected to have a maximum duration of 24 months. A key feature of this competition is that the project activities must be focused on delivering a 'specification of an unmet need'. Networking events to facilitate consortia building for this competition are being organised by the Environmental Sustainability, Chemistry Innovation and Materials Knowledge Transfer Networks, and will take place in September 2011. This competition addresses two high level challenges - reducing the global environmental impact of the materials used, and reducing dependence on key raw materials, the supply of which potentially is at risk. The new products and services proposed should, therefore, have a reduced environmental impact compared to current alternatives, and/or should be less dependent on the use of strategic materials. Further information is available the Technology Strategy Board website: http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/resource-efficiency-supply-chain-innovation.ashx. The first networking event to support consortia building for the competition will take place on 20 September 2011 in London. It will also see the launch of the Materials Security Special Interest Group. For further information, visit: https://ktn.innovateuk.org/web/supply-chain-innovation/overview.