In the United Kingdom, a music industry sustainability collective says the world’s first bioplastic vinyl record has gone on sale. First announced by Music Declares Emergency and Evolution Music in April, the album is called “No Music on a Dead Planet” and features tracks by Bicep, Angel Olsen, Black Country, New Road and Porridge Radio. […]
In San Diego, biodegradable filter manufacturer Greenbutts says it has been granted a patent for ‘Biodegradable Cigarette Filter Tow and Method of Manufacture,’ which covers its food-grade, fiber-based filters with starch-based binders. Greenbutts’ filter material is a sustainable alternative to the standard filters made of synthesized cellulose acetate and has been shown to degrade in […]
In Sweden, renewable chemicals maker Perstorp has been selected by The European Union Innovation Fund to receive a grant for Project Air, a planned production facility for sustainable methanol at Stenungsund. Project Air, which is a collaboration between Perstorp, Fortum and Uniper, has applied for €97 (US$98.6 million). Total investment in the project expected to […]
In Germany, BASF has launched a new skincare biopolymer made from rice. Dubbed Verdessence RiceTouch, the powder is made from non-GMO rice produced in the European Union. It absorbs oils to provide a mattifying effect to cosmetics with a “smooth and powdery light skin feel.” Stickiness reduction and spreading enhancement are additional benefits, BASF tells […]
In Boston, synthetic biology firm Ginkgo Bioworks and Sumitomo Chemical have announced a partnership to identify biobased ingredients for cosmetics and personal care applications. Sumitomo Chemical will leverage Ginkgo’s codebase and expertise in organism engineering to sustainably produce molecules used in products across a broad range of industries. The target molecule is planned to be […]
In the Netherlands, Shell Chemicals Park Moerdijk, a subsidiary of Shell announced a new investment in its chemicals park with the aim of producing more sustainable chemicals. The company will build a new pyrolysis oil upgrader unit that improves the quality of pyrolysis oil, a liquid made from hard-to-recycle plastic waste, and turns it into […]
In the UK, researchers have created an aquatic snail-inspired biomaterial so strong it could one day serve as a renewable alternative to Kevlar. The breakthrough has its origin in 2015 work characterizing the tooth material of limpets, which has tensile strength even stronger than spider silk. Atomic-level analysis revealed a dense network of chitin fibers […]
In Boston, a startup producing sustainable chemicals for apparel, personal care and medicine from natural silk proteins has raised $120 million to scale production. The financing will advance global sales for Evolved By Nature’s Advanced Silk products, which can also replace petrochemical coatings used by the leather and textile industries. In the last year, the […]
In London, popular investing and savings platform Plum has introduced a 100% recyclable and biodegradable debit card partially made of sea salt. The Plum Card will be free to the company’s Plum Ultra customers. The premium service offers cash back and budgeting solutions for £4.99 (US$5.92) per month. The plum-colored debit card is 57% sea […]
In Italy, Pirelli will soon launch passenger car tires that incorporate fillers made from lignin using a proprietary process technology. The process uses a novel chemical treatment and coprecipitation techniques developed over several years. It has been optimized for “scale-up and utilization in car tire products,” Luciano Tadielli, innovative materials researcher, Pirelli Tyre SpA, said […]
