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Select SDGs to find out how we are taking action in support of the UN Substinable Development Goals
Over the years, ICL has developed and marketed many innovative products and solutions, accumulating expertise in diverse technologies.
Going forward, ICL aims to continue expanding, balancing and strengthening its businesses by, among other things, growing its specialty businesses through R&D and innovation, organic initiatives, joint ventures and acquisitions.
ICL is harnessing the strengths, knowledge and expertise that exist within its own organization to innovate. It is leveraging its internal ecosystem to create an internal accelerator, ‘BIG’, a platform where its 11,000 employees, from all regions, can participate in the innovation process.
The BIG initiative is coalescing the processes, roles and management's attention to accomplish this goal. By creating a cross-functional view across ICL, it is designed to encourage cross-fertilization of ideas among the Company’s divisions and to be used as a portfolio management tool to execute the most promising ideas and projects. ICL has embarked on this journey building on its strong foundation. Transformational innovation starts by stringing together ideas and projects to create growth for ICL. In the first year since BIG’s launch in early 2021, 1,413 ideas were submitted, 403 projects have gone live, 148 projects have been completed, 113 cross-functional collaboration projects were undertaken and there were about 20,000 visits to the PITCH-BIG platform (of which around 3,000 were unique) and there were approximately 4,600 votes and comments.
ICL is advancing innovation and looking at SDGs as guiding principles. It is looking at the needs of its customers and innovating to answer their needs.
Food security is one of ICL’s main focus areas. As such, advanced crop nutrition is one of the main issues. This includes unique and biodegradable coating, nutrient sensing, growth enhancers, utilization of digital technologies and fixation. In other aspects of food security, ICL is focusing on alternative protein solutions.
Another focus area is advanced materials, including energy storage and low energy consumption applications, construction, flame retardants, biocides, urban mining and circular economy – “from waste to product”.
ICL is also looking at innovation in its plants and operations. The Company has launched multiple initiatives to create excellence in, and innovate, its production processes, moving towards Industry 4.0.
The global health crisis has challenged the world on many levels. ICL created a COVID-19 Innovative Solutions Challenge for its global employees. Employees were invited to contribute ideas on how to deal with the many challenges that arose from this global health crisis and that address society, employees and ICL. 94 ideas on various subjects were received and the ideas were forwarded for further testing and promotion by the business units. Several Human Resources-related ideas are being implemented.
