In Thailand, biobased polylactic acid maker NatureWorks has received final permission from parent companies Cargill and GC International Corporation to build a $600 million, 75,000 metric tons per year production facility. The site at the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex will produce lactic acid, lactide, and biopolymer. Construction is set to begin in the second quarter of […]
In Brazil, chemical company Dow, Inc. has announced that a cosmetics brand has joined its Project Ybá initiative aimed at sustainably extracting bioactives from the Amazon in a way that benefits local communities. Natura, the first commercial collaborator to join the project, will support the development of the local cooperative. It will also contribute its […]
In Boston, newly public synthetic biology firm Ginkgo Bioworks will undertake strain engineering services for Bolt Threads. Under the terms of the agreement, Gingko will use its platform to improve the “sustainability, efficiency and cost-effectiveness” of Bolt Threads’ b-silk protein manufacturing process. b-silk is currently available in premium product lines like Vegamour hair care products—which […]
In Shanghai, a startup is claiming that its fiber made from the Kapok tree is the most sustainable textile on the market. Kapok trees, which can be found widely in South America, West Africa, and Southeast Asia, produce large numbers of seeds that come protected by a fluffy fiber that has been used widely in […]
In Italy, a partnership between Kering Eyewear and Zeiss Sunlens has successfully developed sun lenses from biobased materials. The new lenses will be used with the Kering Eyewear FW21 line of glasses. The lenses have also been certified by European Commission’s REDCert program, although details on the raw materials were not disclosed. “Kering Eyewear and […]
In Spain, the BIOGEARS project has developed biodegradable ropes from biobased materials that it will now test out for cultivation purposes at mussel and seaweed farms. The ropes are being tested at integrated multi-trophic aquaculture sites both offshore and in sheltered areas. The mussel tests involve seeding juvenile muscles onto the test ropes and attaching […]
In California, startup NovoNutrients has raised $9 million to advance its technology that converts carbon dioxide into animal-free proteins. Roughly half the funds came from new investors Happiness Capital, E2JDJ and Marinya Capital and existing investors IndieBio and Grantham Environmental Trust. Approximately $4.3 million came from non-dilutive funding sources. NovoNutrients says it will use the […]
In Kansas, researchers are developing biodegradable golf balls out of soybeans because the planet doesn’t get to claim a mulligan when novice golfers shank their balls so far out of bounds they are never seen again. The work was done at the Kansas Polymer Research Center at Pittsburg State university in partnership with the Missouri […]
In Florida, researchers have developed a plastic from pine sap after overcoming a key conversion challenge. Justin Kennemur, an Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Florida State University and lead author of the study, tells azom the resulting hard plastic is glassy and thermally stable. “One of the next goals is to learn […]
In Germany, researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a buoyant wood foam from balsa salvaged from out-of-commission wind turbines that can be used to produce paddle boards and surfboards. The project is known as ecoSUP. Balsa wood from nonoperational wind turbines is often burned. “In the interests of environmental protection and resource conservation, […]
