Nouryon (formerly AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals) will expand its offering to customers in the detergents market through a supply agreement with bio-based polymers maker Itaconix. Under terms of the agreement, Itaconix will produce and supply polymers with chelating properties that Nouryon will market to customers in household, institutional, and industrial detergent and cleaner applications. In addition, the companies will work together to transition many of Itaconix’s current detergent customers to Nouryon.
Business
Renmatix joins with The Ingredient House to replace eggs in baked goods by incorporating Simple Cellulose

U.S. innovative company Renmatix signed a distribution agreement with The Ingredient House, a leading supplier of specialty food and beverage ingredients, currently selling to many of the top 20 food and beverage manufacturers in the U.S.
Stora Enso partnered with H&M and IKEA to industrialize TreeToTextile

Stora Enso partnered with H&M group and Inter IKEA group to industrialize TreeToTextile. TreeToTextile AB is a joint venture between H&M group, Inter IKEA group and innovator Lars Stigsson since 2014, with the aim of developing new textile fibers in a sustainable way at attractive cost levels. Stora Enso will join this partnership, and also support the industrialization of TreeToTextile’s production process by setting up a demonstration plant at one of its Nordic facilities.
An interview with Jürgen Eck CEO BRAIN AG, the Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEO 2018

“Innovation is the key for the transformation towards a bioeconomy, and industrial biotechnology is the driving force and innovation engine for this megatrend”. Jürgen Eck, CEO BRAIN AG, talks with Il Bioeconomista. In this exclusive interview, the Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEO 2018 voted by our readers, talks about his company, the bioeconomy and the concept of innovation.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
Bio-on and Rivoira joined forces to develop new materials for food packaging

Bio-on, the Italian company active in the high-quality bioplastic sector, and Rivoira, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of high quality fruit and always careful on innovation, announced a strategic agreement to develop new materials for food packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables, even single use, with Zeropack S.p.A., founded by Bio-on and of which Rivoira acquired the 50%. The demand for new eco-sustainable materials for packaging is constantly increasing and consumers reward the choices of producers and distributors that respect the planet.
Bio-on and Agropecuaria signed an agreement to begin a technical collaboration in Spain

Italian company Bio-on and Sociedad Cooperativa General Agropecuaria, a Castilian-Leon cooperative which produces and markets sugar, food oils, biodiesel, various products for food animal and renewable electric energy, signed an agreement to begin a technical collaboration, the first in Spain, to study and evaluate the opportunity to exploit at industrial scale the Bio-on technologies for the production of PHA bioplastics from sugar beets processing co- and by-products.
Fulcrum BioEnergy selected Gary, Indiana, for the location of its Centerpoint BioFuels Plant
Fulcrum BioEnergy selected Gary, Indiana, for the location of its Centerpoint BioFuels Plant, which will convert municipal solid waste into low-carbon, renewable transportation fuel.
BASF notified Avantium of its exit from their Synvina Joint Venture

BASF yesterday notified Avantium of its exit from their Synvina joint venture, effective 15 January 2019. Avantium continues to disagree with BASF’s interpretation of the joint venture agreement. The two companies are still discussing the terms and conditions of an exit.
Novozymes and Grundfos enter a collaboration to secure access to water

Make a direct impact on the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 6, aiming at securing universal access to water and sanitation by 2030. This is the scope, when the world’s leading expert in enzymes and microorganisms, Novozymes, and Grundfos, the global leader in advanced pump technologies, enter an open innovation collaboration.
Neste will boost its biofuel production capacity in Singapore

Finnish biofuel producer and oil refiner Neste said on Wednesday it will boost its biofuel production capacity in Singapore with a bigger-than-expected investment of €1.4 billion (S$2.2 billion).