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Bertrand Piccard is a man with a singular vision. He wants to change the zero waste technology conversation from one that envisions a cleaner future to one that affirms a sustainable present. The force behind the Solar Impulse Foundation, Piccard has long believed sustainability challenges and economic growth could exist side-by-side, exploring efficient solutions that positively affect the environment and global quality of life.
The foundation’s 1000+ Solutions identify over a thousand clean and profitable technology innovations that give political and economic decision-makers the tools they need to implement more ambitious energy and eco-friendly policies while reaching their environmental goals.
Explorers for Sustainability
UBQ Materials is proud to have its waste conversion technology selected by the Solar Impulse Foundation in 2019 and renew its label in 2022, recognizing the UBQ™ thermoplastic as a solution that is both profitable and sustainable.
UBQ’s technology to reduce waste and oil-based plastics was subject to rigorous conditions, including:
- Membership in the World Alliance for Efficient Solutions
- Developing an innovative physical product, technology, industrial process, or service
- Commercialization
- Producing a solution that contributes to at least one of the following Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): SDG 6 for clean water and sanitation; SDG 7 for affordable and clean energy; SDG 9 for industry, innovation, and infrastructure; SDG 11 for sustainable cities and communities; SDG 12 for responsible consumption and production
UBQ’s plastic alternative material is currently used to create thousands of products in various industries, helping manufacturers easily reduce the carbon footprint across their supply chain and advance their sustainability goals.
What is the Solar Impulse Label?
Solar Impulse’s Efficient Solution Label is an assessment tool for clean and profitable solutions. It’s granted to companies that focus on protecting the environment in a profitable way. The label brings exposure to existing solutions and is only awarded after a rigorous assessment by external independent experts.
Selection criteria are guided by three themes:
- Feasibility, which calls for the manufacturing of a product at scale to be technically feasible
- Environment, which requires the solution to deliver an incremental environmental benefit vs. a mainstream alternative
- Profitability, which demonstrates the product’s economic benefits, such as the total cost of ownership
The UBQ™ thermoplastic is converted from landfill-destined waste and is used as an alternative to oil-based plastics in the manufacturing of final products by leading brands. With every ton of UBQ™ used, up to 11.7 tons of CO2eq are prevented and 1.3 tons of waste are diverted from landfill. The biobased raw material exemplifies the Solar Impulse Foundation’s ideology that “from a victim of pollution, you become an actor of change.”
