In Massachusetts, CJ Biomaterials, a leading producer of polyhydroxyalkanoates, said its bioplastic is being used by California’s Beyond Plastic to develop the world’s first completely biodegradable plastic bottle cap. Derived from nature and produced sustainably, PHAs work well as modifiers to other polymers or biopolymers and serve to increase biobased content, accelerate biodegradation, and improve […]
In Oregon, the Global Hemp Innovation Center at Oregon State University has won a $10 million grant to develop hemp-based supply chains and equip students from 13 Native American tribes for bioeconomy jobs. The grant will be used to establish regional business networks, provide education opportunities for tribal communities, present hemp economic development opportunities to […]
In Slovakia, McDermott has completed construction of an industrial-scale biosurfactant plant it built for specialty chemicals producer Evonik. Construction was completed less than two years from contract award. Evonik had already begun initial production of rhamnolipids, a bacterial surfactant “with the potential to fundamentally transform cleaning products” and significantly reduce their environmental impact, earlier this […]
In Maryland, U.S. Soy and Stanley Black & Decker outdoor brand DEWALT have developed soy-based Bar & Chain Biodegradable Oil for chainsaws and other chain-driven equipment. According to Ag Daily, the environmentally friendly oil is available at Home Depot and online retailers like Bomgaars, Mac Tools, Grainger, and Amazon. The product was endorsed by Buckin’ […]
In the Netherlands, Meatable has reached an important milestone in its efforts to produce cultivated meat at scale—the transformation of pluripotent stem cells into high quality fat and muscle tissue in just four days. The milestone eclipses the previous record of 8 days and, according to Meatable, is faster than anyone else in the cultivated […]
In Los Angeles, popular clothing brand Reformation has released a new swimwear line that emphasizes the use “planet-friendly,” biobased materials. The company tapped Italy-based Fulgar for its castor oil-based EVO fabric. According to Elle Collective, Reformation previously used ECONYL recycled synthetics to make its fabrics more sustainable, but sought out Fulgar after finding that the […]
In Germany, Fuse GmbH has won the JEC Composites Innovation Award for a hemp-based material it co-developed and is using to produce snowboards. The “hemp tape” is processed into reinforcement textiles using Karl Mayer Technische Textilien GmbH’s COP MAX 5 multiaxial warp knitting machine and then impregnated with biobased resin. A follow-on project dubbed HempSki […]
In Berkely, California, bee-free honey startup MeliBio has partnered with Pow-Bio to use artificial intelligence to scale its precision fermentation process. Founded in 2020, MeliBio already has several products on the market based on its bee-free honey and is hoping biomanufacturing startup Pow.Bio can help accelerate scale-up. “Working with cutting-edge science, particularly that aided by […]
In Santa Cruz, California, a food waste upcycler backed by A-list investors such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher, is already mitigating 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. Made from 70% food waste, Cruz Foam’s product is formulated for cold chain logistics. By working with Atlantic Packaging, one of the largest private packaging companies in […]
In San Diego, University of California San Diego and Algenesis have developed a new biobased thermoplastic urethane to help address pervasive microplastics in the environment. In a study published recently in Scientific Reports, the team proved that tiny plastic particles from their new TPU rapidly biodegraded under home composting conditions. They discovered that even common […]
