It is the first time that a study has looked at every kind of bio-based polymer produced by 247 companies at 363 locations around the world and it examines in detail 114 companies in 135 locations.


FIBRA network is to link the research and development activities for fibre crop innovations carried out by universities and institutions in both the EU and China.

The ambition is to develop an integrated hemp-based biorefinery in which improved feedstock is subject to efficient and modular processing steps to provide fibre, oil, construction materials, fine chemicals and biofuels using all components of the harvested biomass, and generating new opportunities within the developing knowledge based bioeconomy.

KBBPPS executes pre-standardization research for bio-based products. The goal is to provide the European and global market with horizontal standards on biomass content and biodegradability that have been assessed on a first set of different products, such as solvents, plastics and lubricants.

The 4-year SPLASH project will develop a new biobased industrial platform using microalgae as a renewable raw material for the sustainable production and recovery of hydrocarbons and (exo)polysaccharides from the species Botryococcus braunii and further conversion to renewable polymers.

 - Towards Technological Innovation and Solid Foundations for a Growing Industrial Biotech Sector in Europe

The project “material use of ligno-cellulosic residues from biogas plants for wood-based materials” addresses two important issues: A. The German wood-based panel industry is searching for ligno-cellulosic and alternative raw materials for the production of particleboards and medium-density fibreboards. B. Operators of biogas plants in Germany face the problem of more than 1 mio. t of digestion residues each year, which are mainly used as low-value fertilizer or fuel.

The project pursues the goal to assess the depletion of fossil resources and the emission of greenhouse gases in the production of bio-polymers. Therefore, life cycle assessments (LCA) for polylactic acid (PLA) and polyhydroxyalcanoates (PHA) are gathered and evaluated by means of meta-analysis.

BIOFOAMBARK aims at developing the chemistry and technology for preparing fully bio-based insulating foams from wood bark tannins of prevalent European softwoods and from the co-products of biofuels and biorefineries (glycerol, furfuran).

The research project »MouldPulp« has the aim of the 3-year research project is the development of a processing technology that allows making injection moulded parts out of DuraPulp® but keeping the naturalness material identity.

More than 80 suppliers, agencies, associations and R&D!

The year 2010 has experienced acceleration regarding the raw material shift in the chemical and plastics industry. Clear political requirements towards a bio-based economy have become a world-wide phenomenon, which includes bio-based plastics and composites along with bio-based additives and green chemistry.

Fibre reinforced polymers find wide commercial application in the aerospace, leisure, automotive, construction and sporting industries. There has been much interest in developing natural fibre reinforced polymers for a sustainable substitution of these synthetic, high-embodied energy materials to commercially exploit past research investment on the world market and for Europe to reap the sustainability benefits.

The project’s goal is to overcome the most crucial bottle neck in the process chain from domestic natural fibres to natural fibre reinforced plastics: the feed of natural fibres through technically and economically suitable natural fibre pellets into the plastics industry processes.

In this far-reaching project, the nova-Institut GmbH is taking over the task of the techno-economic evaluation of the whole BIOCORE processes as well as the analysis of feedstock availability and supply management, including sustainability aspects, and the market research for the whole range of BIOCORE products.