The EU bio-based industry is quickly evolving but clear data on the development of this emerging sector are still missing. A new JRC report illustrates the work of the JRC in building an extensive database of EU facilities producing different categories of bio-based products:
Society
Unilever switches Ingman ice cream to fully renewable packaging material from Stora Enso
Supporting the company’s environmental targets, Unilever Finland is introducing Ingman ice cream in a newly designed 1 litre carton made of Stora Enso’s fully renewable and recyclable packaging board in early March.Comet Bio selected by AB InBev to join its 100+ Accelerator to pilot technology on brewers’ grain
Comet Bio, a Canadian manufacturer of award-winning healthy and sustainable ingredients, has been selected by Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), the world’s largest brewer, to join its 100+ Accelerator to pilot technology on brewers’ grain. Through the 100+ Accelerator, AB InBev partners with companies who can deliver breakthrough advancements in sustainability. The 100+ Accelerator builds off of AB InBev’s 2025 Sustainability Goals, with six challenges around smart agriculture, water stewardship, circular economy and climate action.
Japanese company Toray is going to start mass production of biopolyester jointly with Virent
Japanese materials maker Toray Industries is going to start mass production of polyester made entirely from plants, a breakthrough poised to cut reliance on petroleum and slash carbon emissions, Nikkei has learned. Toray developed what is being described as the world’s first 100% plant-based polyester jointly with Virent, a U.S. biofuels company. Production is set to begin in the early part of this decade, people familiar with the matter said.
Nestlé joined forces with Burcon and Merit for plant-based alternatives
Nestlé joined forces with Burcon and Merit, two key players in the development and production of high-quality plant proteins. This partnership will enable Nestlé to further accelerate the development of nutritious and great-tasting plant-based meat and dairy alternatives with a favorable environmental footprint.
Novamont, Turin Polytechnic and University of Bologna launched the ReSoil Foundation in Italy
Novamont, Turin Polytechnic and University of Bologna launched in Rome, ReSoil Foundation, a new tool to boost a real change, starting from soil health and the key concept of territorial regeneration.
The new foundation aims at promoting activities in the fields of scientific research, technology transfer, training and dissemination, and the creation of awareness on issues related to soil health, a non-renewable resource, increasingly degraded by the anthropogenic action, pollution and climate change.
Genomatica Hits Industry-First Milestone in Nylon Sustainability
Eighty years after nylon’s first commercial production, clean manufacturing technology leader Genomatica achieved a new milestone for the material — its production of the world’s first renewably-sourced ton of the key ingredient for nylon-6, made from plants instead of crude oil.
Nylon, the first totally synthetic fiber to be made into consumer products including apparel and carpet, is responsible for an estimated 60 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions per year through traditional production which begins with crude oil. Continue reading
Neste and Chicago Bulls’ Lauri Markkanen to spread climate awareness during away games this NBA season
Neste’s new campaign has basketball player Lauri Markkanen dunking for a good cause. This season, Chicago Bulls player will be taking more than just his game to cities around the US. A series of basketball dunks designed by Markkanen will help raise awareness for extreme weather brought on by rising temperatures.“The world hits new record average temperatures year on year, and catastrophic weather has been on the increase. More and more people as well as companies have already realized the seriousness of this issue. We hope that this collaboration with Lauri will help spread the message to new audiences. As a company focusing on renewable and circular solutions, fighting climate change is at the core of our business,” said Neste’s Marketing Director Sirpa Tuomi.
BlackRock joins the Climate Action 100+
BlackRock is the latest signatory to Climate Action 100+, an unprecedented global investor engagement initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change.
With the addition of the world’s largest asset manager, with more than $6.8 trillion USD in assets under management, Climate Action 100+ continues to grow in size and influence. BlackRock joins more than 370 global investors already participating in the initiative. The addition of funds it manages, brings total assets under management represented by investors participating in Climate Action 100+ to more than $41 trillion.
“BlackRock is one of the largest and most influential asset managers in the world and will bring even more heft to investor engagement through Climate Action 100+,” said Emily Chew current Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee Chair and Global Head of ESG Research and Integration at Manulife Investment Management. “We look forward to working with BlackRock to build on the initiative’s success and work to ensure companies take the urgent and necessary action needed in response to the climate crisis.” Continue reading
2020: Happy New Year!
Dear Readers,
thank you so much. 2019 was a great year for Il Bioeconomista. The blog confirms itself as one of the world’s leading bioeconomy blog. And the number of readers increased by 29%.
2019 was also an important year for the bioeconomy but many things still need to be done to fully achieve a more sustainable society and economy, starting with the implementation of effective policies against climate change. From this point of view, the COP25 in Madrid cannot leave us optimistic. 2020 will be a turning point. We start from the positive assumptions that exist in the European Green New Deal.
However, such a huge vision and ambition cannot be achieved without looking at the essence of the economic model we have created, that is without fundamentally rethinking the way in which we produce and consume. A system change is needed to dematerialize our economic model and update the logic of resource efficiency to that of resource sufficiency, based on the decoupling of economic growth, or better well-being, from the use of resources and environmental impacts. The quantity-oriented and profit-oriented economy should be replaced by an economy focused on satisfying people’s needs in a sustainable way. This is not an easy task and it certainly is a process that challenges the current balance and distribution of power and interests. But it is necessary, if we take the set ambitions seriously. The bioeconomy, a circular economy based on renewable biological resources and sustainable biological solutions, can contribute to the realization of the Green Deal. It can be a catalyst for systemic change to holistically address those social, economic and environmental aspects that are not yet managed consistently today.
In the new year we will certainly always be active to support the sustainable and circular bioeconomy. Thanks for joining us.
We wish all of you a wonderful, healthy,
Happy new year!
Some pictures from 2019:
Paper Bottle with PEF prototype (Source: Avantium)
John Bell in Helsinki
IL BIOECONOMISTA 