Nouryon's third year of the Imagine Chemistry competition includes Unilever as a partner. Nouryon is seeking solutions in areas such as sustainability, small particles and products that do not need chemical warning labels.

Mr Jeff, a Spain-based laundry and dry cleaning startup with operations in seven countries, mostly in Latin America, raised $12 million in its most recent funding round. The capital will enable the company to improve its position in current markets and look to Asia for expansion.

Companies need to move away from a one-size-fits-all vision of leadership to support women in the workplace, said Carolyn Tastad of Procter & Gamble. "We must stop labeling women's behavior as lacking or less than just becomes it shows up different from a legacy male prototype," she said.

The Environmental Protection Agency referred 166 pollution cases for prosecution in 2018, the lowest level since 1988. One former EPA special agent believes the agency is "being gutted," but the EPA maintains it is only focusing on the "most significant and impactful cases."

LyondellBasell, Dow Chemical and 22 other companies have launched the Alliance to End Plastic Waste to find solutions for eliminating plastic waste. The companies, which want to focus on recovery and management infrastructure, have pledged $1 billion to the project, with the intent to raise the total to $1.5 billion over the next five years.

The solution to the world's marine debris problem lies in the development of new technologies for using plastic waste as a feedstock and in "new thinking, new partners and open collaboration," says Dow Chemical CEO Jim Fitterling. "The best opportunity we have to truly tackle this problem in the long term is by applying the principles of a circular economy that values plastics waste for what it is: an opportunity for additional growth," he says.

Online registration for the 2019 ACI Industry Convention has been extended to Friday, Jan. 18. If you haven't yet registered, don't wait another second to sign-up on ACI's Convention website. Otherwise, you'll have to wait until the first day of the convention, Jan. 28, to register on-site at the Grande Lakes in Orlando. Many of your customers, colleagues and competitors have already registered for the top business event in the cleaning product supply chain. For more information, contact ACI's Meetings Department.

ACI President & CEO Melissa Hockstad has joined the Board of the National Association of Manufacturers Council of Manufacturing Associations, which is made up of more than 260 industry-specific manufacturing associations. "Last year, manufacturers in the United States achieved record optimism, thanks to policy wins that our industry secured from leaders in Washington and our efforts to advance the pillars that keep our country exceptional: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity," said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. "Melissa's commitment to these values and to manufacturing more broadly, together with her tremendous experience in the industry, make her the right champion to continue bringing manufacturers together to advance an agenda that expands opportunities for all Americans."