European Bioplastics concluded two days of insightful presentations, panel discussions and market data analysis. Around 350 attendees gathered in Berlin and online to attend the 19th edition of the European Bioplastics Conference, EBC24.
Our readers have voted. The most innovative bioeconomy CEO 2024 is Frederic Van Gansberghe, CEO of Futerro, a a pioneer and world leader in bioplastics with the development and production of Poly-Lactic Acid (PLA, also called FUTERRO RENEW®). PLA is a well-recognized biopolymer able to replace a large number of traditional petro-based plastic used in several applications.
The circular bioeconomy is innovation, the result of the skills and passion of researchers and managers able to create value and new high-qualified jobs, reconciling economy, society and the environment. At the end of 2014 Il Bioeconomista launched a new initiative: The 10 Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEOs.
We have asked a panel of world bioeconomy experts to tell us the Chief Executive Officers that have stood out as the most innovative during the last year.
Now we ask you to choose the most innovative CEO responding to our survey (open till December 13 at 7 am, Central Europe Time).
UPM Raflatac has made further progress towards a more circular economy for plastics and a future beyond fossils during 2023. The progress towards the 2025 commitments is detailed in the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment 2024 Progress Report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). UPM Raflatac joined the Global Commitment as the first label materials company in October 2018.
Eni and MSC Group President signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at developing joint initiatives in the field of sustainability and energy transition. The two Italian companies – the first is an integrated energy company committed to the energy transition towards carbon neutrality by 2050, the second is a world leader in transport and cruise services – intend to extend the scope of their already fruitful business relationship to a broader geographic context and, in particular, to areas relating to sustainability and decarbonization of their operations.
Avantium N.V., a leading company in renewable and circular polymer materials, strengthened its partnership with SCG Chemicals Public Company Limited, a leading chemical player in Asia and an innovator of chemical innovations and solutions. The companies signed a multi-year collaboration to pilot the production of PLGA (polylactic-co-glycolic acid). This partnership marks a significant milestone in the development and commercialization of sustainable materials.
The COP29 closing statement of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. COP29 comes at the close of a brutal year – a year seared by record temperatures, and scarred by climate disaster, all as emissions continue to rise. Finance has been priority number one. Developing countries swamped by debt, pummelled by disasters, and left behind in the renewables revolution, are in desperate need of funds.
NewEnergyBlue, the clean-technology designer of biomass refineries that turn agricultural waste into highly decarbonized biofuels and biochemicals, and MetGen, the Finnish pioneer in advanced enzymes and lignin fractionization, began integrating their renewable technologies and business units to vigorously compete with fossil-carbon products not just environmentally but economically.
As first announced at the presentation of its 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, Eni has finalized its transformation and relaunch plan for its chemicals business, also as part of its decarbonization path. The transformation plan involves about 2 billion euros of investment and aims to reduce emissions by approximately 1 million tonnes of CO2, currently about 40% of Versalis’ emissions in Italy.
REMARKS AT THE COP29 HIGH-LEVEL EVENT ON DELIVERING EARLY WARNINGS FOR ALL AND ADDRESSING EXTREME HEAT
Excellencies, friends,
Welcome.
It is a pleasure to join you today – in the home stretch of a brutal year.
2024 has shown climate calamity is now commonplace.
This is on track to be the hottest year in the history books.
It has scorched countries and communities with temperatures that push the limits of human endurance.
And around the world, we’ve seen record rains and hurricanes, historic fires, and deadly droughts.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 