In India, a top refiner may soon be adding biobased naphtha to its ethylene crackers to help decarbonize its operations. Shrikant Madhav Vaidya, chairman of Indian Oil, revealed the plans to Reuters at this year’s Asia Petrochemical Industry Conference, but did not provide a timeline. “To attain sustainability, bio-based feedstocks such as bio-naphtha and bio-ethanol […]
In California, synthetic biology leader Amyris, Inc. has signed an exclusive license agreement with British specialty chemicals company Croda International for the supply of biobased squalene. Squalene is commonly derived from shark liver, but Amyris’ sugarcane-derived, sustainable squalene is molecularly identical to the traditional shark source and offers a higher purity, more predictable cost profile […]
In Australia, winemaker St Hubert’s has promised to deploy 100,000 biodegradable seed pods using drone technology from AirSeed, and is advertising its efforts with billboards that also contain seeds and biodegrade. The campaign for St Hubert’s The Stag cabernet sauvignon will focus on Victoria’s Winton Wetlands, an area hit hard by extreme weather. The billboards […]
In San Francisco, biobased sneaker pioneer Allbirds has launched its first golf shoe. The Dasher Golf Shoe retails for $145 and is available in both men’s and women’s sizes on the company’s website. Materials include sugarcane-derived ethylene vinyl acetate, natural rubber, biobased thermoplastic polyurethane, and recycled polyester. The Dasher Golf Shoe features the same design […]
In Chicago, mushroom-based materials startup Mycocycle has raised $2.2 million. Mycocycle’s technology addresses “waste mismanagement” by transforming industrial waste into new raw materials. It does this by optimizing the natural functions of fungi to detoxify and transform waste such as asphalt shingles, insulation board, crumb rubber, gypsum drywall, fibers, and other hard-to-recycle building materials. Such […]
In Switzerland, coffee giant Nespresso has partnered with watchmaker Hublot to create wrist watch elements from used coffee grounds and pods. The material is being used in Hublot’s Big Bang Unico Nespresso Origin timepiece. The project is one of several in Nespresso’s Second Life program, which looks for opportunities to repurpose waste from coffee into […]
In Brazil, Novonor has confirmed a takeover offer from private equity investors Apollo and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company for its shares in petchems, plastics, and bioplastics producer Braskem. According to Reuters, Novonor owns a 38.3% stake in Braskem. State-owned energy giant Petrobras holds 36.1%, with the remaining 25.6% held by private investors. The bid […]
In Austria, wood-based fibers maker Lenzing Group is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its biorefinery and coproduct brand LENZING Acetic Acid Biobased. Since its launch on May 4, 1983, the business has become one of the “leading and most trusted” biobased acetic acid providers, finding applications in cleaning agents and food ingredients. To mark the […]
In Boston, synthetic biology firms Octarine Bio and Ginkgo Bioworks have partnered to produce compounds in the tryptophan pathway. Specifically, the two will jointly engineer a strain for producing violacein, a naturally occurring bis-indole pigment with potent bioactive properties. The collaboration may be expanded to other tryptophan-derived compounds. According to the companies, most textiles are […]
In Pennsylvania and Georgia, Trinseo and RWDC Industries are developing paper and board packaging solutions using polyhydroxyalkanoates dispersion technology. Non-recyclable packaging materials, such as extruded polyethylene laminates and fiber processing with fluorochemicals, are facing rising regulatory and consumer pressure. PHA dispersion technology can be used to create water-based barrier coatings that are recyclable in traditional […]
