German materials manufacturer Covestro and California-based biotechnology company Genomatica joined forces to research and develop high-performance materials based on renewable feedstocks. With their collaboration announced on March 27, both partners are aiming to reduce the use of fossil-based resources such as crude oil. These are today still the most common carbon and raw material sources of the chemical and plastics industries. Using carbon from plants instead would help reduce CO2 emissions and close the carbon loop in another move towards a circular economy.
This long-term partnership involves teams from both companies working together to drive commercially-focused innovations. Genomatica will deploy its strengths in developing industrial-scale bioprocesses to produce widely-used chemicals. Covestro complements the collaboration with strong know-how in chemical process technology and application development. “This initiative is another example of Covestro’s approach to drive innovation by sustainability” claimed the German company, former Bayer Material Science.
“The market is showing increasing interest in products based on renewable raw materials,” said Klaus Schäfer, Chief Technology Officer of Covestro. “Being able to increasingly derive key materials from biomass is essential for making our industry less dependent on fossil raw materials and market fluctuations. With this, we are pursuing our vision of making the world a brighter place.”
“We look forward to supporting Covestro in its efforts and providing our expertise in harnessing the power of biotechnology to bring much-needed change to many segments of the chemical industry”, Christophe Schilling, CEO of US-based Genomatica, added.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 