Global packaging is expected to be a USD 975 billion industry by 2018 with an annual growth rate of 4% which is a key driver for the use of bioplastics. In addition, numerous countries across the world implementing stringent regulations for the use of bio-based polymers for packaging is expected to fuel market growth over the next six years. To say this is a new report published by Grand View Research, Inc., a market analysis company based in California.
Bayer MaterialScience, a Bayer Group company among the world’s largest polymer companies with 2014 sales of 11.7 billion euro, is introducing a range of waterborne, bio-based polyurethane (PU) dispersions under the Impranil® eco name. With a renewable content that reaches as high as 65 percent, this product class contributes to a further reduction of CO2emissions, thus further improving the sustainability of waterborne PU. The products are part of the INSQIN® program for waterborne PU for textiles.
According to Reuters, EU antitrust regulators have raided several bioethanol companies suspected of fixing prices and at the same time stepped up their two-year investigation into possible rigging of biofuel price benchmarks by including a company in Spain in the case.
Scientists focused on producing biofuels more efficiently have a new powerful dataset to help them study the DNA of microbes that fuel bioconversion and other processes.
In a paper published in Nature Scientific Data, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory, North Carolina State University and LanzaTech describe methods and results for sequencing the Clostridium autoethanogenum bacterium. These and other microorganisms play important roles in biofuels, agriculture, food production, the environment, health and disease.
Kuraray expands into bio-based barrier materials through the acquisition of Plantic.
The Japanese chemical company was the first to commercialize the high-performance barrier resin, EVAL (ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer), which it launched in 1972. EVAL boasts the highest level of gas barrier properties of all plastics and is the market leading barrier resin used in food packaging and industrial barrier applications. In addition Kuraray has developed and launched KURARISTER a transparent barrier film for retort applications.
Amyris, Inc., a global renewable products company providing sustainable alternatives to a variety of non-renewable resources, and Squalan Natural Health B.V., a privately held, personal care product company based in The Netherlands, have entered into agreements for the production and marketing of Neossance Squalane-based personal care products.
The partnership between Amyris and Squalan accelerates development and market penetration of skin care and personal care products containing Amyris’s Neossance Squalane, which is produced from plant sugars. Under this new relationship, Squalan will market and sell Neossance-based products to retailers and consumers, primarily in the European Union.
With less than one month to go before the official opening of Milan Expo 2015, almost nine million tickets have already been sold and organizers say the event is set to shine. The food-themed universal exposition runs from May 1 through October 31 with a record 53 single-nation pavilions, along with nine clusters representing about 90 countries and theme-based pavilions. About 140 countries in all will participate in Milan Expo 2015, under the theme: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. Some 20 million visitors are expected to join in on events that are based on promoting a sustainable global food system and fighting hunger. All these visitors will support the bioeconomy. Why?
Following its successful introduction with Finnish dairy Valio, the world’s first fully renewable package, Tetra Rex Bio-based, is now being rolled out to customers worldwide.
Global Bioenergies, French biotech compamy that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation, announces having obtained a 4.4 million euro loan from a consortium managed by BNP Paribas, Société Générale, CIC and Bpifrance to complete the financing of its demo plant in Germany. The loan, reimbursable over 5 years, is covered by guarantee funds of the Ile-de-France Region. The construction phase began yesterday and will last one year.
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, a subsidiary of Japanese Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, announces that it has developed the world’s first bio-based polycarbonatediol, a type of high-performance polyols, and will begin worldwide market development and sales in April of this year. MCC uses proprietary manufacturing processes to produce the new product, which is of an entirely different composition than any other currently available polycarbonatediols.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 