In Alabama, German specialty chemicals company Evonik has acquired a line of biomaterials from Birmingham’s DURECT Corporation for $15 million. The LACTEL Absorbable Polymers portfolio is comprised of biodegradable, PLGA-based polymers used in drug delivery, tissue engineering, and 3D printing of implantable medical devices. The business will be integrated into Evonik’s Health Care business. “The […]
In San Francisco, animal-free cheesemaker Change Foods has raised $875,000 in an oversubscribed, pre-seed funding round, according to Green Queen. The company had initially targeted $600,000. Proceeds will be used to create Change Foods’ first prototype with the look, taste, and cooking consistency of dairy-based products. The company says its alternative cheese is better than […]
In India, cell-based meat company ClearMeat has developed cultivated chicken mince that it hopes will address both the populous country’s increasing appetite for chicken and concerns for the environmental impact of this growing meat consumption. Unlike most lab-grown meat makers, ClearMeat claims its production cost, at $10.77–11.44/kg, is already on par with conventional chicken mince […]
In the Philippines, an engineering student has won the James Dyson Sustainability Award for an invention that turns waste crops into clean energy-generating building cladding. Carvey Ehren Maigue developed AuReus by extracting luminescent particles from waste agricultural crops and suspending them in resin to produce cladding for walls or layers between windows. The particles convert […]
In Canada, KFC is debuting biodegradable cutlery. The ubiquitous purveyor of seven herbs and spices expects the switch to sporks made of bamboo, corn, and sugarcane will eliminate 40 million pieces of plastics from its waste stream. The new cutlery, which debuts in December, breaks down into biomass, carbon dioxide, and water at room temperature. […]
In the Netherlands, British biotechnology startup Deep Branch is building a production facility to make protein for fish and animal feed from carbon dioxide emissions. Funded by a €2.5 million ($3 million) grant from EU Horizon 2020 – European Innovation Council (EIC) accelerator funding, the plant will be based at Brightlands Chemelot Campus in Geleen. […]
In the United Kingdom, a consortium of researchers is developing a process to convert household waste, biomass, and fabric into new textiles. They hope that the £5.4 million (USD$7.2 million) project with the Royal College of Art will help improve the sustainability profile of the textile market. “The clothing and fashion sector is currently one […]
In Malaysia, a producer of medical gloves is hoping to address the environmental impact of the COVID-19 pandemic by introducing a natural rubber medical glove that biodegrades 100 times faster than its synthetic counterparts. According to Meditech Gloves, 300 billion medical gloves will be used in 2020, enough to fill the Empire State Building a […]
In the United Kingdom, biotech firm Toraphene has developed a biodegradable plastic packaging incorporating graphene that it says will boost food safety and shelf-life. The material, also called Toraphene, is stronger, thinner, and has better permeability characteristics than current bioplastics. “Amidst a climate crisis, plastic waste is known to be a huge global problem and […]
In San Diego, cultured meat startup Ouroboros Steak has designed a kit that enables people to grow little human steaks in their own home and even from their own cells. The creepy quasi-cannibalism concept was developed by scientist Andrew Pelling, industrial designer Grace Knight and artist and researcher Orkan Telhan. The grow-your-own-flesh kits work […]
