Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, pledges to purchase all of its electricity worldwide from renewable sources as well as further reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from its own operations faster with stringent new 2030 sustainability targets.
Avantium N.V., a leading technology company in renewable chemistry, signed an offtake agreement with AmBev, the Brazilian brewing company, part of the AB InBev Group, the largest beer company in the world. AmBev will purchase PEF (polyethylene furanoate) – a 100% plant based and recyclable alternative to plastic – from Avantium’s Flagship Plant and will use it to make bottles for its soft drinks portfolio.
The EU Commission will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first Bioeconomy Strategy, by organizing a high-level conference in Brussels. The conference “The Bioeconomy – Enabling the European Green Deal in Challenging Times” will take place on 6 and 7 October in the Charlemagne building. In addition, all sessions will also be live-streamed to allow everyone to get involved from anywhere.
Neste and HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group have entered into an agreement for the commercial distribuito of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuels on flights by Aegean Airlines, the leading air carrier in Greece. HELLENIC PETROLEUM Group, through its subsidiary EKO, will ensure the supply of Neste-produced sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) on AEGEAN flights departing from its Thessaloniki Airport “Makedonia” hub. Flights from Athens International Airport are expected to follow soon, as Neste announced.
Californian biotech company Genomatica (Geno) alongside longtime collaborator Aquafil successfully completed the first demonstration scale production runs for plant-based nylon-6. The material is intended to reshape the $22 billion nylon industry, enabling brands to meet demand from consumers for sustainable everyday materials from apparel to automotive parts to carpets.
Finnish giant Neste and Fly Victor, the on-demand private jet company, started a partnership which sets a new sustainability benchmark in business aviation. Victor members can now purchase Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™ (SAF) for every private jet booking globally. This enables private jet charterers to reduce the carbon footprint of their private air travel in a credible and measurable way.
In 2021, the bioeconomy in EU4 (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) has reached a value of production of €1,500 billion, employing over 7 million people. Germany is confirmed as a leader with a value of €436.6 billion, then France (379.4 billion), Italy (364.3 billion) and Spain (251.5 billion). This is according a new Report realized by the Intesa Sanpaolo Research Department (Intesa Sanpaolo is one of the major banking group in Europe), in collaboration with Italian Circular Bioeconomy Cluster SPRING and Assobiotec, and today presented in Salerno (South Italy), which is dedicated to bioeconomy, which, in line with the definition of the European Commission, was defined as the set of activities using renewable natural resources to produce goods and energy, generating great advantages in terms of sustainability.
Carlsberg Group and Dutch biochemical company Avantium agreed to take the next step in the commercialisation of PEF. The Danish Group signed a conditional offtake agreement with Avantium to secure a fixed volume of the 100% plant-based, recyclable and high-performance polymer PEF (polyethylene furanoate) from Avantium’s FDCA Flagship Plant, which Avantium aims to start-up in 2024. Carlsberg will use the PEF resin for various packaging applications, including its Fibre Bottle – the bio-based and fully recyclable beer bottle.
I met Mathieu Flamini in Milano during the Design Week. Milano is vibrant again after the dark years of the pandemic. AC Milan won the championship, eleven years after the last success of which Mathieu was one of the architects. We do not talk about football, also because I cheer for the other team based in Milano. I am totally black and blue and I can’t share his joy for the AC Milan’s Scudetto. We talk about the bioeconomy, starting from his new role as CEO of GFBiochemicals, which he is enthusiastic about. Mathieu is a friend, so I immediately declare that this is a somewhat unusual interview. With Mathieu we talk about the need to accelerate on the path of the paradigm shift that leads us from fossils to the use of renewable biological sources, the importance of communicating the damages produced by industrial activity on the environment in order to promote sustainable solutions, the role of the sport’s world in a campaign that highlights the contradictions of a development model based on profit at all costs and the waste of resources.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
Suzano, the world’s largest hardwood pulp producer and a global reference in developing sustainable and innovative solutions from renewable sources, launched Suzano Ventures, a global corporate venture capital initiative. It will invest US$70 million in a range of businesses with the potential to revolutionize their sector and beyond, by addressing some of the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. The initiative will focus on companies operating within at least one of four bioeconomy applications: improving the measurement and management of carbon sequestration, accelerating and maximizing agroforestry yield, developing new technologies and applications for pulp biomass, and creating more efficient pulp packaging from renewable sources.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 