Call for Innovative Ideas for Sustainable Packaging for Micronutrient Powders (MNPs)
Scientists Without Borders, in partnership with The Sackler Institute for Nutrition Science at the New York Academy of Sciences, and
Sight and Life, the not-for-profit nutrition think tank of DSM, are offering up to $25,000 for the most innovative ideas for more sustainable and effective packaging methods for delivering micronutrient powders (MNPs),
small sachets of essential vitamins and minerals. MNPs target "hidden hunger,"—the deficiency of essential micronutrients, in a person's diet that can result in significant mental and physical impairment in children and chronic disease later in life. MNPs
are one of the most widely-distributed and cost-effective nutrition interventions against hidden hunger in resource-poor settings: hundreds of millions of sachets are distributed every year.
The current packaging for MNPs is a composite foil packet composed of aluminum,
PET, and polyethylene which contains 1g of powdered vitamins and minerals.
The current packaging is used to protect the powder from degradation in harsh environmental conditions, but these sachets are difficult to recycle, destroy, or repurpose due to their composition and the conditions under which many of them are distributed (refugee
camps or environments with extremely limited waste disposal systems). The millions of MNP sachets distributed ultimately generate a great deal of collateral waste in the low-resource communities where MNPs are most critical. New and innovative approaches
to packaging or delivery of MNPs could dramatically reduce the ecological impact of MNPs, while also potentially scaling their usage in the world's most vulnerable populations in need of MNP interventions.
For more information about this challenge and to submit your ideas, visit
www.ninesights.com/groups/scientists-without-borders
Photo Credit: Michael Bloem Photography
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