UPM Biochemicals and URSA, one of the leading producers of glass wool and mineral wool in Europe, joined forces to develop more environmentally friendly building insulation that will help to reduce energy consumption and lower CO2 emissions. URSA will produce sustainable glass wool made from an innovative, binder based on UPM BioPiva™ lignin. It will be one of the most natural insulation material available on the market.
LanzaTech Global, Illinois-headquartered innovative carbon capture and transformation (“CCT”) company that converts waste carbon into materials, and Plastipak Packaging, a global leader in the design, manufacture, and recycling of plastic containers, have successfully produced PPKNatura, the world’s first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin made from captured carbon emissions. The resin is suitable for food, personal care, and pharmaceutical packaging, as well as other non-packaging applications.
“One of the great challenges is to use fewer resources by regenerating territories and taking care of biodiversity and soil health. Diversifying bio-based value chain is then a crucial point to meet the challenge of raw material shortages.” To say it – in this interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Roberto Marangon, Senior Application Development Manager at Novamont, the Italian company which is one of the leading players in the world bioplastics’ market. With him we talk about innovation in the bioplastics sector and the next steps of the company headquartered in Novara.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
COMET, the manufacturer of Arrabina® prebiotic dietary fiber, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its new production facility in Kalundborg, Denmark. The first-of-its-kind facility uses the company’s patented upcycling process to produce high-purity arabinoxylan, a highly sought-after dietary fiber. It will supply over 4 million kilograms annually of COMET’s Arrabina® line of proprietary arabinoxylan dietary fiber for food, beverage, and supplement customers.
Working in partnership with Fiorini Packaging, the specialist manufacturer of industrial paper sacks, UPM Specialty Papers has co-created a sustainable, fibre-based sack suitable for pet food applications of up to 20 kg. Already available to order from Fiorini, a sample of the new sack was showcased on the UPM Specialty Papers stand at Interpack 2023.
Arkema, which had already strengthened its climate plan in July 2022, is setting new, even more ambitious targets by 2030 across its whole value chain, approved by the organization Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), a partnership between CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), United Nations Global Compact, WRI (World Resources Institute), and WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature). The Group now aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 48.5% for Scopes 1+2 and by 54% for Scope 3 by 2030 versus 2019.
Neste and Viva Aerobus, the Mexican ultra low-cost carrier, have signed a new purchase agreement for one million liters (264,000 gallons) of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™. The sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supplied to Viva Aerobus will be blended with conventional jet fuel and used to power the airline’s flights from Los Angeles International Airport to Guadalajara, Mexico City and Monterrey in Mexico.
Versalis – Eni’s chemical company and a shareholder of Novamont (36%) – and Mater-Bi – a company controlled by Investitori Associati II and NB Renaissance – yesterday signed an agreement for Versalis to acquire the remaining 64% of Novamont’s shares currently held by Mater-Bi. Novamont is a leading international company in the field of chemistry from renewable sources. Next steps and the timing of closing are subject to approval by the competent authorities.
The BioCities Facility was inaugurated last week in Rome, taking advantage of the “ThinkForest seminar Forests and the cities of the future”, which explored the transformational role forests and nature can play in creating ‘biocities’, and some of the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The seminar took place in Rome on 20 April, as part of the official launch of EFI’s new Biocities Facility and celebrations of EFI’s 30th anniversary.
“When we consider that nearly all of the materials and products in society today are essentially 100% based on petrochemicals and that the chemical sector is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions, half of that from the fossil-based feedstock used to produce the chemicals, we see that the world is not only dependent on petroleum but also on petrochemicals. To transition to a lower carbon economy, we need renewable chemicals just as much as renewable energy.” Nick Smith, Head of Development Commercialisation at Circa Group, talks to Il Bioeconomista. In this exclusive interview, he talks about the ReSolute plant in Eastern France, the new partnerships and the next steps of the Australian company and the role of the bioeconomy to make industries more sustainable.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
IL BIOECONOMISTA 