Accelerating the transition to safe and sustainably designed materials and products (IRISS SSbD)

The EU initiative IRISS aims to accelerate the transition to safe and sustainably designed materials, products and processes. The consortium forms a global network of experts and stakeholders.

Ensuring that materials are sustainable for humans and the environment, increasing recycling and using resources more efficiently requires action from the earliest stages of design and manufacturing. The chemical industry and all value chains that manufacture materials and products are facing major changes to create safe, circular flows. IRISS will build a network of companies, researchers, government agencies and other societal actors to support the transition.

Fundamental to IRISS is the concept of Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design. It means that early in the supply chain, the focus is on providing products that are part of circular models, while avoiding characteristics that can be harmful to human health or the environment. It integrates circularity, climate neutrality, functionality and safety of materials, products and processes throughout the life cycle. The work centres on six value chains: textiles, construction, electronics, energy, vehicles and packaging. The IRISS consortium consists of European research institutes, industry organizations, companies, government agencies, and universities as well as national technical platforms within SusChem.