With 180 participants from 23 countries, this year's conference (www.biowerkstoff-kongress.de) further established it as a major industry meeting-place. This year's Innovation Prizes were awarded to Newlight Technologies, LLC, fischerwerke GmbH & Co. KG, and 4e solutions GmbH - ajaa! & TECNARO GmbH.

Production capacity will triple from 3.5 million tonnes in 2011 to nearly 12 million tonnes in 2020. Further information at: www.bio-based.eu/market_study
 

“New opportunities through successful marketing” is the theme of the largest European WPC conference, whose fifth edition will attract over 300 interested professionals from 20 countries to the Maritim Hotel in Cologne, Germany: www.wpc-conference.com

For the second year in a row, the conference "CO2 as chemical feedstock - a challenge for sustainable chemistry" (7 -9 October 2013, Haus der Technik, Essen, Germany) will concentrate on the CO2 economy:
www.co2-chemistry.eu
 

The goal is to develop a new biobased industrial platform using microalgae as raw material for the sustainable production and recovery of hydrocarbons and (exo)polysaccharides from algae and their further conversion to renewable polymers.

nova-Institute GmbH organized a full two-day conference which allowed the world’s leading universities and companies in the field of CO₂ capture, purification and derived polymers, products and fuels to present and discuss their latest developments and outline their vision for the full-scale implementation of a CO₂ economy: www.co2-chemistry.eu

Promoted project could be completed successfully, hemp fibre pellets available as by now.

The project executes pre-standardization research for bio-based products. The results automatically feed into the CEN standardization process on the same topic. 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 chemical industry and the solar industry are partners in developing artificial photosynthesis to produce sustainable carbon without using biomass. Solar fuels and solar materials cover the demands of society and industry. This will change the face of the world dramatically and sets out a realistic pathway towards a truly sustainable society with infinite resources from CO₂ recycling. More at: www.co2-chemistry.eu

Chemical industry and solar industry are partners to develop artificial leaves to produce sustainable carbon without using biomass: www.co2-chemistry.eu

nova-Institute publishes the first results of a multi-client market survey of the international bioplastics market. The results are derived from the most comprehensive international market survey of bioplastics to date, which was carried out in conjunction with renowned international plastics experts. The “Market Study on Bio-based Polymers and Plastics in the World” will be published in January 2013 and contains, along with a 300-page report, access to the newly developed “Bioplastics Producer Database”.

The world's largest conference on "CO2 as Feedstock for Chemistry and Polymers" (Haus der Technik Essen, 10-11 October 2012) covers an incredibly wide range of uses for CO2, developing a vision for a sustainable carbon dioxide economy: www.co2-chemistry.eu

The 2012/13 edition presents 80 leading producers of bio-based materials, as well as associations, agencies, engineering and research institutes from 19 countries on 6 continents. There are 15% more subscribers than for the first edition.

nova-Institute based in Hürth in the Rhineland, is working on a case study for the EU-funded BIOCORE project. In this framework practical trials will be performed in the coming months by BIOCORE partners CIMV, VTT and ECN.

The second edition of the 2012 "Sustainable Packaging" conference (abbreviated to "SusPack 2012") was held at the Anuga FoodTec on 29th and 30th March in Cologne, Germany. At the two-day conference, current issues of sustainability in the (bio-based) packaging industry were discussed and existing solutions presented. The SusPack Award was presented to the companies Constantia Flexibles GmbH, TIPA-Corp Ltd. und Imperial Ventures b.v.

With 110 participants from 15 countries, the ‘5th International Congress 2012 on Bio-based Plastics and Composites & Industrial Biotechnology’ has established itself as a major industry meeting-place.

A meta-analysis of 30 life cycle assessments by the nova-Institute for innovation and ecology on behalf of the Proganic company shows unambiguously positive results for the widespread bio-based plastics PLA and PHA/PHB.

With nearly 300 participants from 21 countries and 30 exhibitors, the 4th German WPC Congress held in Cologne (13th-14th December 2011) once more lived up to its reputation as the industry's leading European event. Organiser nova-Institut and sponsors Reifenhäuser, Werzalit, STAEDTLER and BASF (Innovation Prize) expressed enormous satisfaction, and the sector remains extremely upbeat.

The private research and consultant nova-Institute, based in Huerth (Germany), and the French Competitiveness Cluster Industries and Agro-Resources (IAR) in Laon (France) have signed a partnership agreement involving services to develop a bio-based economy, to give their subscribers additional benefits and to provide potential customers with the best available bio-based solutions on the fast-growing market in bio-based materials

Just launched - The first comprehensive multi-stakeholder market study!
More than 20 stakeholders took advantage of this unique opportunity and provided the initial funding: Bayer MaterialScience - Borealis Polyolefine - Braskem - DSM - European Bioplastics - Fischer - Ford - Omya - Plastics Europe - PURAC - Roquette - SABIC - Sofiproteol - Sulzer - Tereos Syral - Veolia (for a complete list see: www.bio-based.eu/market_study)

For the fourth time, the nova-Institute (Huerth, Germany) awarded the "Biomaterial of the Year 2011" at the International Congress on Bio-based Plastics and Composites in Cologne on March 15th 2011. As in the previous year, the company Coperion GmbH (Stuttgart), a leading manufacturer of twin screw extruders, sponsored the Innovation Award.

iBIB2011 - The First International Business Directory of Major Suppliers of Bio-based Plastics and Composites Worldwide is Available Now!

 

A new study from the nova-Institut shows higher resource efficiency, climate protection, improved security of raw material supplies and employment benefits through the increased material use of agricultural and forest products. Realignment of the policy framework supporting renewable resources is required.

The company Propper GmbH is using the bio-based plastic PHA in consumer goods for the first time worldwide. The Innovation Award was presented at the 3rd International Congress on Bio-based Plastics and Composites (www.biowerkstoff-kongress.de) for the third time by the nova-Institut and sponsored by the machine manufacturer Coperion.

A sustainable raw material for bio-based composites

The Third German WPC Congress www.wpc-kongress.de in Cologne took place on the 2nd-3rd of December 2009. With 300 participants from 26 countries and 30 exhibitors, it continues to establish itself as the leading European congress for the WPC industry. STAEDTLER was awarded the WPC Innovation Award 2009 for its WOPEX pencil.

With the Business Directory for Innovative Biomaterials (BIB'09), a review of the biomaterial market is available for the first time. It focuses on companies producing or distributing biomaterials and their products and presents 50 actors from 6 countries.

Pure hemp oil is unsuitable as plant oil fuel but might improve low-temperature behaviour when admixed to rapeseed oil. nova-Institut and TFZ Straubing have published the first technical and economical analysis worldwide on this topic. (April 2008)

Second German WPC-Congress 2007: Wood-Plastic-Composites (WPC) - Increasingly gaining ground in the market, production volumes growing at a two-digit rate and certified qualities.