13 January 202310 January 2023 RGU’s daffodil research breakthrough could unlock new heart disease treatment Daffodil’s bulbs, which produce a high-value alkaloid called galanthamine, are already used in the UK to treat Alzheimer’s disease but the results from this project could unlock the benefits of using all parts of the plant
Flachs und Hanf statt Glas und Carbon: Wie werden Composites nachhaltig? SachsenLeinen Tochter Fuse bietet mit ihren 100% biobasierten Naturfaserhalbzeugen für industrielle Hochleistungs-Verbundwerkstoffanwendungen geeignete Lösungen an
Edible plant-based ink for safe screen printing applications IIT-researchers developed a non-toxic ink from natural components; water-soluble and biodegradable; with antimicrobial, antioxidant, and medicinal properties
New ‘Spray-On Wrapper’ Offers Plastic-Free Food Packaging Alternative The spray on wrapper’s main ingredient is pullulan, an edible fiber that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) “generally recognize[s] as safe” (GRAS)
LANXESS and TotalEnergies to cooperate on sustainable styrene Biocircular styrene based on tall oil. Target 2050: Fully climate-neutral raw materials
LANXESS und TotalEnergies kooperieren bei nachhaltigem Styrol Biozirkuläres Styrol auf Basis von Tallöl. Ziel 2050: Vollständig klimaneutrale Rohstoffe
12 January 20239 January 2023 Lignovations’ functional ingredient LignoGuard® based on Fibenol LIGNOVA™ lignin confirmed safe for use in cosmetic products Using Fibenol’s lignin called LIGNOVA™ as a raw material, Lignovations has developed a new functional ingredient called LignoGuard® that has passed all relevant safety tests to be used in cosmetic products including those for sensitive skin
Forschende stellen Bioökonomie-Roadmap für Deutschland vor Die Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft hat in Handlungsempfehlungen an die Politik einen Weg skizziert, wie die deutsche Industrie auch in Zeiten multipler globaler Krisen und Herausforderungen erhalten und gesteigert werden kann
Fossil Fuel Dependence Inspires an Unexpected Renewable Energy Trend in the Gasification Market, says Market.us Because it reduces greenhouse gas emissions and improves air quality, gasification is an environmentally-friendly alternative to fossil fuel technologies
Cow Gut Bacteria Hosts Solution for Recycling Crop Waste to Bioethanol: IIT Guwahati IIT Guwahati researchers report an efficient multifunctional enzyme from a bacterium found in the gut of cows that can break down woody biomass for conversion to bioethanol fuel
Old Christmas trees could be saved from landfill to make renewable fuels Research at the University of Sheffield and the University of Valladolid has found that pine needles from discarded Christmas trees or other sources could be turned into renewable fuels and new products
Producing fertiliser without carbon emissions Researchers at ETH Zurich and the Carnegie Institution for Science have shown how nitrogen fertiliser could be produced more sustainably. This is necessary not only to protect the climate, but also to reduce dependence on imported natural gas and to increase food security
Dünger klimafreundlicher produzieren Forschende der ETH Zürich und der Carnegie Institution for Science zeigen auf, wie sich Stickstoffdünger nachhaltiger herstellen liesse. Dies ist nicht nur aus Klimaschutzgründen nötig, sondern auch um die Abhängigkeit von Erdgasimporten zu reduzieren und um die Ernährungssicherheit zu erhöhen
11 January 20236 January 2023 AIMPLAS produces plastic film from coffee waste By avoiding biowaste generation and harnessing its potential as a source of high-value secondary resources, biowaste can play an important role in the transition towards a circular economy
Circularise joins phase two of BT Green Tech Innovation Platform In partnership with BT and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), they will begin proof of concept (PoC) activities to prove their impact for UK manufacturers
C&A und das Bioökonomie-Start Up traceless materials ersetzen Textilhaken aus Plastik Die Pilotphase mit traceless materials ist ein weiteres Beispiel für C&As Initiativen im Rahmen der Kreislaufwirtschaft, wie auch die Cradle to Cradle® zertifizierten Produktinnovationen oder die Zusammenarbeit mit dem Materialforschungsunternehmen Recover™
EU countries prepare for textile recycling big bang A 2021 report by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre found that around 4-6% of the EU’s overall environmental footprint can be traced back to textiles
C&A teams up with circular bioeconomy start-up traceless materials to replace plastic hooks The pilot phase with traceless materials fits in with C&A’s recent circularity initiatives, including Cradle to Cradle Certified® product innovations and collaboration with material sciences company Recover™
Michigan Becomes 21st State to Enact Bipartisan Advanced Recycling Legislation The new law in Michigan brings to 21 the total number of states that recognize advanced recycling technologies as manufacturing and not waste disposal
LanzaTech’s Waste Gas-to-SAF Facility receives £25M Grant from UK Department for Transport Advanced Fuels Fund Plans for the world’s first commercial-scale factory to transform waste gases into sustainable jet fuel have moved a step closer
10 January 20236 February 2023 Submit Your Innovative Product now: The Innovation Award “Renewable Material of the Year 2023 For the third time, a comprehensive award will be presented for the best renewable materials – which can be produced either from biomass, directly via CO₂ utilisation, or recycling
Monthly news from the Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI), December 2022 Let’s take a look at what happened in December 2022 at RCI
An exclusive interview with Giulia Gregori, Novamont. “Specific codes for the biobased industries are fundamental to fully exploit the circular bioeconomy potential” NACE codes are an important element as they would allow a better measurement in the statistical field and the possibility of addressing specific legislative measures dedicated to waste deriving from biodegradable and compostable plastic products
Scientists Discover Enzymes That Could Make It Cheaper To Recycle Waste Polyester Textiles and Bottles Than Making Them From Petroleum Using machine learning, NREL-led team discovered variants of 'plastic-eating' enzymes adapted to deconstructing all varieties of PET — even durable crystalline varieties
Strong and biodegradable A polyester plastic of great mechanical stability, which is also easily recyclable and even compostable: Stefan Mecking, chemist at the University of Konstanz, and his research group present a new material
Hochbelastbar und biologisch abbaubar Ein Polyester-Kunststoff mit hoher mechanischer Stabilität, der trotzdem gut recycelt werden kann und sogar kompostierbar ist: Forschende der Universität Konstanz um den Chemiker Stefan Mecking stellen ein neues Material vor
USDA Invests $9.5M to Develop New Bioproducts from Agricultural Commodities The program’s exploration into bioproducts accelerates USDA’s efforts to develop circular bioeconomies, where agricultural resources are harvested, consumed, and regenerated in a sustainable manner
Transparent Wood-Based Materials: Current State-of-the-Art and Future Perspectives The present manuscript aims at providing the reader with some perspectives about its novel functionalizations and applications
Covestro signs major renewable energy supply contracts with Chinese producer CGN Multi-year contract calls for annual purchase of 300 gigawatt hours of wind and solar power from CGN. Plans to cover 30 percent of electricity demand at Covestro's Shanghai site
Vollebak releases “first piece of clothing ever” coloured with black algae dye Experimental clothing brand Vollebak and biomaterials company Living Ink have teamed up to create a T-shirt using black dye made from algae instead of petroleum, in what they say marks a major breakthrough for sustainable fashion
9 January 20239 January 2023 Successful completion of the iMulch project – Impact of agricultural mulch films on terrestrial ecosystems iMulch investigated the impact of plastics on organisms, soil functions, drainage systems and adjacent water bodies
Erfolgreicher Abschluss des iMulch-Projektes – Einfluss landwirtschaftlicher Mulchfolien auf terrestrische Ökosysteme iMulch untersuchte die Auswirkungen von Kunststoffen auf Organismen, Bodenfunktionen, Drainagesysteme und angrenzende Gewässer
New study on optimizing microbial fuel cells shows electrode material can make all the difference The best results were achieved with carbon felt and modified stainless steel mesh, which generated quantities of electricity that can be used in practice, for example, to power environmental monitoring sensors in remote regions
Neue Studie zur Optimierung mikrobieller Brennstoffzellen: das Elektrodenmaterial macht den Unterschied Das beste Ergebnis erzielten modifizierte Elektroden aus Edelstahlgewebe, die unabhängig zuverlässig Strommengen erzeugen, welche z.B. für den Betrieb von Umweltüberwachungssensoren in entlegenen Regionen genutzt werden können
CJ Biomaterials Partners with South Korean Industry-University Research Council to Promote Eco-Friendly Material and Accelerate Adoption of PHA Technology Companies help address the challenge of plastic waste, which is capable of all modes of biodegradability and compostability, including marine, soil, home and industrial
Endlich: Widerstandsfähiger Kunststoff lässt sich recyceln Neuer Meilenstein: Forscher recyceln Nylon-6 bei milden Temperaturen und ohne toxische Chemikalien
Call for Submissions: 2022-23 Wood Design & Building Awards Entries should showcase the use of wood products in any or several of their many forms and applications, and an understanding of the special properties of wood including strength, durability, beauty, and cost-effectiveness
This wooden debit card puts your money to work in saving the planet Green finance firm Treecard, London, hopes, that the cards will provide a viable alternative to the mass-produced plastic debit and credit cards that make up the vast majority of category
Plasma technology makes recycling of CO₂ local and 100% circular The BluePlasma consortium receives approval from VLAIO to set up an R&D pilot project
Carbon-negative synthetic biology: challenges and emerging trends of cyanobacterial technology Excessive CO2 emissions are one of the most widely discussed challenges in the 21st century. Carbon-negative production of value-added chemicals by cyanobacterial cell factories has been considered a top priority for solving such problems
6 January 20233 January 2023 Most colors are eco criminals: Here’s how to make purple greener UCPH researchers have teamed up with Danish company Octarine Bio to create new types of sustainable pigments
Universität von Kopenhagen: So wird Lila grüner Goodbye erdölbasierte Farbstoffe: Biotech-Start-up und Wissenschaftler revolutionieren die Farbproduktion
A poison helps to understand H2-producing biocatalysts The toxic cyanide molecule attacks H2-generating enzymes, but at the same time provides new insights into catalysis
Ein Gift hilft Wasserstoff produzierende Biokatalysatoren zu verstehen Das giftige Cyanidmolekül greift die Enzyme an, ermöglicht aber auch neue Einblicke in die Katalyse
The Digest’s 2022 Multi-Slide Guide to Ginkgo Bioworks Together with their partners and their growing ecosystem, the company design custom organisms that bring new products to life for countless applications
Building CO2-neutral, defossilised supply chains for chemicals Scientists from the Institute of Biotechnology of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology and from the Roche Group propose how to reduce the environmental footprint of the pharma industry
Tandem chemocatalysis and biological funneling to valorize lignin Lignocellulose-derived monomers can be converted to a single product, polyhydroxyalkanoates, by Pseudomonas putida
EU Commission chief hails ‘historic’ COP15 biodiversity accord After two weeks of fraught negotiations, world nations gathered in Montreal adopted on Monday (19 December) a new package to address the loss of biodiversity and restore natural ecosystems