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27 November 202422 November 2024

Bio-based fibres could pose greater threat to the environment than conventional plastics, study suggests 

The research has led scientists to suggest that materials being advocated as alternatives to plastic should be tested thoroughly before they are used extensively in a range of products

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29 January 202419 January 2024

Plymouth Marine Laboratory: What happens to biodegradable plastics if they enter the sea?

Our new study investigates what happens when biodegradable plastics enter the ocean, and whether these increasingly popular alternatives to conventional plastics are safer for marine ecosystems, or whether they come with their own risks

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13 July 202310 July 2023

Scientists make common pain killers from pine trees instead of crude oil

Common drugs such as paracetamol and ibuprofen can be made from a chemical from pine trees instead of crude oil products

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Wissenschaftler stellen gängige Schmerzmittel aus Kiefern statt aus Erdöl her

Neue Methode wandelt Terpentin-Bestandteil in eine Reihe wertvoller chemischer Grundbausteine für Parfüms, Kunststoffe und Medikamente wie Ibuprofen um

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8 June 20224 June 2022

Scientists make plastic more degradable under UV light

Scientists at Bath found that incorporating sugar units into polymers makes them more degradable when exposed to UV light

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Hinzufügen von Zucker: Wissenschaftlern gelingt es, PLA-3D-Druck-Material auch mit UV-Licht biologisch abbaubar zu machen

Forscher der University of Bath haben herausgefunden, dass das sonst nur unter strengen industriellen Bedingungen biologisch abbaubare PLA mit Sonnenlicht schneller kompostiert, wenn Zucker dabei ist

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9 March 20229 March 2022

Upcycling von Kunststoffen in wertvollere Materialien könnte dazu führen, dass sich Recycling bezahlt macht

Neue und einfache Methode zum Upcycling von Kunststoffabfällen bei Raumtemperatur

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Upcycling plastic waste into more valuable materials could make recycling pay for itself

Researchers at the Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies have developed a new and simple method for upcycling plastic waste at room temperature

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6 May 202118 June 2021

Seaweed as a source of food and useful compounds

Universities of Exeter and Bath in the UK have developed a process that doesn’t require the salty water to be removed on beforehand.

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29 April 202118 June 2021

Bath is first UK university to sign ‘green chemistry’ commitment

From 2023, sustainable chemistry will be taught to all chemistry students as part of their core studies

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18 January 202114 January 2021

Scientists make sustainable polymer from sugars in wood

Scientists from Bath's Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies have made a sustainable polymer using the second most abundant sugar in nature, xylose

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23 November 202022 November 2020

Project aims to cut microplastics in pharmaceutical and chemical industries

University spin-out Naturbeads is working with ChiralVision to replace plastic microbeads in the chemical industry with biodegradable ones made of cellulose

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11 September 20208 September 2020

Can yeast oil save rainforests from palm oil plantation pressure?

Palm oil is cheap, plentiful, and extremely useful — but its production involves destroying tropical rainforests. Startups are racing to replace palm oil with oil from yeast cultures. Can they beat palm oil's low price?

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22 June 202017 June 2020

Solve invasive seaweed problem by turning it into biofuels and fertilisers

Seaweed could produce sustainable fuels, chemicals and fertiliser while helping protect tourist hotspots

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2 June 20209 September 2021

Chemical recycling makes useful product from waste bioplastic

A faster, more efficient way of recycling plant-based “bioplastics” has been developed by a team of scientists at the Universities of Bath and Birmingham

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Chemisches Recycling macht aus Biokunststoffabfällen ein nützliches Produkt

Wissenschaftler der Universitäten Bath und Birmingham entwickeln schnelleren und effektiveren Weg, um pflanzenbasierte Biokunststoffe zu recyceln

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6 February 20203 February 2020

New way of recycling plant-based plastics instead of letting them rot in landfill

Chemical recycling method breaks down plastics into their original building blocks, potentially allowing them to be recycled repeatedly without losing quality

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5 February 20209 September 2021

Breakthrough means plastic can be recycled hundreds of times

Breaking down plastic polymers into their chemical building blocks

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28 January 202023 January 2020

Chief technology officer and green chemistry scientific advisor join Circa Group

Tony Duncan, CEO of Circa Group Ltd, who produces bio-based solvent Cyrene from waste biomass – has announced two additions to the team

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29 August 201926 August 2019

Biodegradable alternative to replace microplastics in cosmetics and toiletries

Bath project seeking to commercialise plant-based beads for cosmetics receives major funding

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15 January 201910 January 2019

Bioconstruction: beyond hempcrete

Biobased buildings are still a niche market, but latest research about industrial hemp materials have developed products that may be more competitive

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10 December 20186 December 2018

Home sweet (hemp) home

Biobased materials are seeing ever more use in the construction sector, which needs to become more sustainable

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7 March 20185 March 2018

Big Bioeconomy Challenges – Part 1

In this series of articles we will discuss some of the global challenges that the bioeconomy provides solutions for

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14 February 201812 February 2018

Kaum einer weiß es: Wie gefährliches Plastik in Ihren Lebensmitteln landet

Nach den USA, Kanada und Neuseeland ist Großbritannien der erste europäische Gesetzgeber, der Mikroplastik in Duschgel und Zahnpasta verbietet

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22 December 201720 December 2017

Earth Institute: The Truth About Bioplastics

Bioplastics are often touted as being eco-friendly, but do they live up to the hype?

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13 September 201711 September 2017

Plastic Stretches Towards the New: Top 10 Trendlines in Bioplastics

What’s the promise, who’s making progress? And when, where, how, and costing how much?

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10 August 20179 September 2021

Sugar can be sweet after all as it could be the “promising” future for bioplastics

University of Bath researchers developed polycarbonate made from sugar, carbon dioxide and water

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3 August 20171 August 2017

Hitting a new high – Hemp industry and innovations continue to grow like weeds

Vermont’s latest statistics on state’s hemp industry’s growth made Biofuels Digest wonder what is it about hemp that is so hip?

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23 June 20179 September 2021

Scientists make plastic from sugar and carbon dioxide

New BPA-free plastic could potentially replace current polycarbonates in items such as baby bottles and food containers

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14 June 201712 June 2017

Scientists make biodegradable microbeads from cellulose

Microbeads from a sustainable source could potentially replace harmful plastic ones

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18 January 201716 January 2017

Scientists make plastic from Christmas trees

University of Bath researchers developed renewable plastic from a chemical called pinene found in pine needles

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1 April 201621 March 2016

Smaller, Cheaper Microbial Fuel Cells Turn Urine into Electricity

A new design could help produce sustainable energy in developing countries

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27 November 201526 November 2015

Developing microorganisms for the production of bioplastics from waste

New UK project to design Geobacillus strains that digest waste to produce lactic acid

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23 September 201522 September 2015

Orange is the new black gold: how peel could replace crude oil in plastics

York researchers to make biofuel from orange peels

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11 February 201510 February 2015

First straw eco homes could cut heating bills by 90 per cent

Super-insulated straw walls provide three times’ greater insulation than required

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10 December 20149 December 2014

Micro-capsules and bacteria to be used in self-healing concrete

Research team exploring different species of bacteria maturing enclosed over certain time periods

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20 December 201319 December 2013

£18M for 13 unique industry-academia Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy

13 new cross-disciplinary research communities

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11 November 20138 November 2013

Building eco-friendly straw homes – panel by panel

The EU-funded project EUROCELL and University of Bath are paving the way to using straw bale as a building material

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14 December 2010

The Sweetness of Biodegradable Plastics

Tel Aviv University (TAU) uses sugar and cornstarch to make environmentally safer plastics

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9 April 200911 January 2018

UK: With hemp-lime towards zero-carbon housing

Project to build and monitor affordable "Renewable House"