The 10 Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEOs 2022. Now choose the number 1

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“Bioeconomy in everyday life” @ BioBased World 2015 in Frankfurt am Main

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, Western European Time).

The most innovative CEO 2016 was Ken Richards (CEO of Leaf Resources, Australia)

The most innovative CEO 2017 was Tony Duncan (CEO of Circa Group, Australia)

The most innovative CEO 2018 was Jürgen Eck (CEO of BRAIN AG, Germany)

The most innovative CEO 2019 was Alex Michine (CEO of MetGen, Finland)

The most innovative CEO 2020 was Simão Soares (CEO of SilicoLife, Portugal)

The most innovative CEO 2021 was Jennifer Holmgren (CEO of LanzaTech, USA)

This is the result of 2022 (in alphabetical order)

Catia Bastioli, Novamont (Italy)

Dominique Boies, Enerkem (Canada)

Mathieu Flamini, GFBiochemicals (France)

Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech (USA)

Philippe Lacamp, SkyNRG (The Netherlands)

Matt Lipscomb, DMC Biotechnologies (USA)

Eric A. McAfee, Aemetis (USA)

Christophe Schilling, Genomatica (USA)

Nicolas Sordet, Afyren (France)

Tom van Aken, Avantium (The Netherlands)

Biodegradable bags? Yes, thanks

In this early 2018 it seems the main problem for Italians is the price of biodegradable bags for fruit and vegetables. Many Italians complain about the cents to buy the biodegradable bags but say nothing about toxic clouds that devastate the territory from North to South. What are we talking about for the benefit of our non-Italian readers?

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Supporting Catia Bastioli. The bioeconomy is democracy

bastioli-a-bottrighe-2She has created the Italian bioeconomy. Thanks to her passion, her tenacity, her ability, Italy today can rightly claim to be a leading country in this field. All this in the total lack of an Italian strategy on bioeconomy.

The inauguration last Friday of Mater Biotech’s plant in Bottrighe di Adria, the first in the world capable of producing butanediol from renewable sources, is her umpteenth great victory. The demonstration that the bioeconomy is a reality, that creates wealth and jobs in an environmentally friendly way. That the goals can be achieved with passion and determination, putting into practice a new idea of sustainable enterprise.

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Catia Bastioli talks to Il Bioeconomista. An exclusive interview with the Ceo of Novamont

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“To pass laws that can make a difference means overcoming the braking action of those who defend and feed the advantageous position, put into practice the good industry and multiply virtuous cases there are in our country. Much of the Italian industry has invested and is investing in the development of new products and “green” technologies, and now considers sustainability as an opportunity rather than a constraint”. Catia Bastioli talks to Il Bioeconomista. In this exclusive interview with the Chief Executive Officer of Novamont, considered as the beacon of Italian bioeconomy, we talk about bioeconomy, circular economy and climate change. A few days before the 4th EU Bioeconomy Stakeholders’ Conference in Utrecht, Bastioli gives us her vision to fully realize in Italy and Europe the new economy based on biological resources, able to create wealth and jobs, starting from the local areas.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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Novamont presents its new brand identity

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Catia Bastioli presents the new brand of Novamont

Novamont presented last Friday in Milan its new brand identity, in order to enhance and aligning the corporate image of the group.

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EC unveils an unprecedented 3.8 billion euros investment in biobased industries

European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn

The Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC), a cross sector group of 48 large and small companies, has joined forces with the European Commission to set up an unprecedented Public Private Partnership worth 3.8 billion euros to accelerate the deployment of biobased products in Europe by 2020.

The Biobased Industries PPP is part of the European Commission’s Innovation and Investment Package that was released today in Brussels. The package is intended to stimulate the European economy, create jobs and tackle major societal challenges through research, innovation and deployment. Continue reading

European Commission appoints the members of the Bioeconomy Panel

Berlaymont, European Commission's Headquarter in Brussels
Berlaymont, European Commission’s Headquarter in Brussels

The European Commission has selected and appointed the 30 members of the Bioeconomy Panel, a new platform for informed discussions on the Bioeconomy.

These experts represent a wide variety of interests – scientific community and researchers, primary producers, industry, policy-makers, and civil society – and they are nominated for an initial mandate of 2 years.

Their role is to closely assist the Commission in the implementation of the Bioeconomy Strategy in Europe.

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Waiting for the elections, dreaming Bastioli as the next Minister of Economic Development

Ministero dello Sviluppo economicoIt’s not just because she shows great vision and strategic economic sense (read the interview with our journal in this regard). It’s not just because she knows how to reconcile economic growth, creation of new skilled jobs and environmental sustainability. It’s certainly not just because she is a woman in a country, Italy, where women find thousand obstacles to occupy top positions in the economy, academia and politics. It’s not only for these reasons but for sure these are enough to dream Catia Bastioli, the current Ceo of Novamont and chairwoman of the Kyoto Club Italy, as the next Italian Minister of Economic Development.

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Exclusive interview with Catia Bastioli, Ceo of Novamont: “The Bioeconomy needs to start from local areas”

catia bastioli novamont“The Bioeconomy needs to start from local areas and act in synergy with ecosystems and biodiversity. In this respect the Italian case is a cutting edge demonstrative example ”. To say it is Catia Bastioli, Ceo of Novamont, the company of Novara, in Italy, world leader in the field of biodegradable products, thanks to the use of plant materials and renewable energy sources with low environmental impact. In this long exclusive interview, the entrepreneur of Umbrian origin, who, among other things, awarded the “2007 European Inventor of the year Award” for her patents for Mater-Bi the bioplastics commercialized by Novamont, talks about bioeconomy and green economy, the emerging cluster of green chemistry, but above all she gives us a vision and a strategy. “We need – tells us Bastioli – to encourage the creation of a bioeconomy not based on subsidies but based on cutting edge applications which respect stringent standards and which can contribute to lower pressure on the planet limited resources”.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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Novamont cresce nella bioeconomia: conclusa l’acquisizione di un ramo d’azienda di Tecnogen


novamontNovamont ha portato a termine l’acquisizione di un ramo d’azienda di Tecnogen, il centro di ricerca sulle biotecnologie controllato da Sigma Tau Finanziaria e da mesi in liquidazione. 

In base ai termini dell’accordo, “il ramo d’azienda rilevato da Novamont è costituito dallo stabilimento di Piana Monte Verna (in provincia di Caserta), dalle immobilizzazioni materiali e dalle autorizzazioni, dalle licenze e dai permessi non afferenti all’attività farmaceutica”, spiega una nota diffusa da Novamont.

Grazie all’accordo con le rappresentanze sindacali, inoltre, dodici lavoratori verranno subito riassorbiti dall’azienda novarese e altri sei, disponibili al trasferimento, potranno essere assunti nello stabilimento di Adria-Bottrighe della controllata Mater Biotech quando verrà attivata la prima produzione di 1,4 biobutandiolo.

“Con questa operazione intendiamo aumentare la massa critica per affrontare con massima determinazione la prima fase della piattaforma biotecnologica Novamont, destinata a far crescere ulteriormente la società, attraverso una maggiore integrazione tra processi chimici e biotecnologie industriali”, ha dichiarato Catia Bastioli, amministratore delegato di Novamont.

La piattaforma biotecnologica Novamont può contribuire a far ripartire un settore industriale strategico come quello chimico, coinvolgendo il territorio in un processo di innovazione che contribuisca in modo determinante al rilancio del sistema economico e alla creazione di valore per l’intero paese. Il ruolo di “infrastruttura tecnologica” in tale settore potrà aiutare a creare le condizioni per un effetto positivo non solo sul comparto ma anche su tutta l’industria a valle e sull’agricoltura.

“La chiusura di Tecnogen avrebbe comportato la perdita di uno straordinario patrimonio di impianti e tecnologie per lo sviluppo di processi fermentativi e la dispersione di importanti competenze e conoscenze maturate in questi anni sul territorio campano. La nostra iniziativa ha l’ambizione di voler dimostrare che il nuovo settore della bioeconomia basato sull’innovazione continua può accelerare lo sviluppo, sapendo utilizzare per la crescita del paese competenze altrimenti disperse”, ha concluso Bastioli.

L’acquisizione del ramo d’azienda di Tecnogen segue di alcuni mesi quello dell’ex impianto BioItalia di Adria-Bottrighe dove, in partnership con la statunitense Genomatica, entro la fine del 2013 entrerà a regime per uso captive, per Novamont e i suoi partner, la prima produzione al mondo su scala industriale del bio-butandiolo da fonti rinnovabili, un intermedio chimico sinora ottenuto solo da fonti fossili e caratterizzato da elevatissima domanda per una vasta gamma di applicazioni (tessile, elettronica, automotive, ecc.).