More than 40 participants from across Ukraine — Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Sumy, and Khmelnytskyi — joined the Green Chemistry Hackathon to spend several intensive days developing ideas for a more sustainable and eco-friendly industrial future.
A total of 11 teams of young scientists, students, and researchers took on two real-life challenges provided by DOW and ‘VKF MVA’ LLC (ELF DECOR). Their goal was to find innovative solutions that could help reduce the environmental footprint of industrial production while improving its efficiency and competitiveness.
Throughout the event, participants not only generated ideas but also enhanced their knowledge and skills. They attended a lecture on green chemistry principles, a workshop on inventive problem-solving (TRIZ) delivered by Green Duck Research, and had the opportunity to interact with mentors and business representatives. The atmosphere was charged with creativity, full of discussions, formulas, experiments — and a lot of inspiration.
The jury, which included Volodymyr Pipa (‘VKF MVA’ LLC ), Oleksandr Aleksandrov (Dow Europe in Ukraine), Serene Douveyri (iPARK Incubator, Jordan, online), and Andrii Vorfolomeiev (Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Centre), evaluated the projects and highlighted several outstanding and breakthrough ideas.
Hackathon Winners:
- 1st Place – Synergy404 (Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute)
Development of a water-dispersed latex based on terpene monomers obtained through biosynthesis. - 2nd Place – PRO-YVON (Ukrainian State University of Science and Technology, Dnipro)
Creation of a biocomposite based on PRP, wood flour, and PBAT. - 3rd Place – SapoNeed (Khmelnytskyi National University)
Use of saponite clay as a natural binding additive in putty production. - Special Prize – Butadiene Dream (L.V. Pisarzhevsky Institute of Physical Chemistry, NAS of Ukraine)
For the concept of catalytic production of monomers from by-products of the gas extraction industry — an idea with the potential to transform not only the industry but the world itself.
The organizers express their sincere gratitude to the partners — DOW, ‘VKF MVA’ LLC (ELF DECOR), Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Sikorsky Challenge, and Green Duck Research — for their support, engagement, and belief in young scientific teams who are driving the future of sustainable chemistry in Ukraine.
Organizers
Resource Efficient and Cleaner Production Centre in partnership with the Yale Center for Green Chemistry & Green Engineering (USA), within the UNIDO project Global GreenChem Innovation and Network Programme, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF).
