Greener alternative to PET, olive pit bioplastic, Dupont and NIPI new insulation, biobased Mardi Gras beads and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of February 15th

The pace of bioeconomy invention and change continues at a frenetic pace. Here are the top innovations for the week of February 15th.

In today’s Digest, new greener alternative to PET, olive pit bioplastic, Dupont and NIPI new insulation, biobased Mardi Gras beads — these and more, ready for you now at The Digest online.

#1 Green alternative to PET could be even greener

In the Netherlands, polymer chemists from the University of Groningen, led by Prof. Katja Loos, have described an enzyme-based polymerization method for furan-based polyester or polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics.

“Furans are mainly produced with enzymes. But for the polymerization, the same processes are used as have been used for PET production for the last 70 years,” said Loos. Toxic metal-based catalysts and high temperatures that are needed for this process mean that it is not very environmentally friendly.

That is why Loos and her colleagues looked for an alternative polymerization method, one that uses enzymes. “We eventually found a commercially available enzyme that would do this,” said Loos. The polymers are made by combining furans with linear monomers, either aliphatic diols or diacidic ethyl esters. The enzyme Candida antarctica lipase B (CALB) is a lipase that breaks down ester bonds, but the polymerization requires the creation of these bonds. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it is not, explains Loos: “Enzymes catalyze equilibrium reactions, and we simply pushed the equilibrium towards the formation of ester bonds.”
More on the story, here.