Daily News

The plastics industry is moving towards a more sustainable model, driven by circular economy principles and innovation in biodegradable and compostable materials.

Lignin Industries (Knivsta, Sweden) has raised EUR 3.9 million in fresh funding; as the company accelerates its commercialisation and scaleup plans.

Solena Materials, a biomaterials company developing novel protein fibres for high-performance, intrinsically sustainable clothing, has secured $6.7 million in investment in a seed funding round backed by David Harding, SynBioVen and Insempra.

Polymer specialists Uhde Inventa-Fischer, subsidiary of the global leader in chemical engineering and construction thyssenkrupp Uhde (Dortmund, Germany), and Praj Industries (Pune, India), a global leader in industrial biotechnology solutions, announced a strategic partnership to jointly offer an end-to-end integrated technology for the production of Polylactic Acid (PLA).

AFYREN (Clermont-Ferrand, France), a greentech company offering manufacturers biobased, low-carbon ingredients through a unique fermentation technology based on a circular model, and Südzucker (Mannheim, Germany) have committed to extend their long-term partnership to advance sustainable, biobased and circular chemical production aligned with the EU’s green transition goals.

Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are biocompatible and biodegradable plastics in soil and marine environments synthesised by a wide variety of microorganisms, which share very similar characteristics with plastics of petrochemical origin.

Swiss cleantech company Bcomp (Fribourg) has collaborated with leading Spanish padel brand, Siux (Madrid), to develop the new GEA racket: an advanced-level padel racket integrating Bcomp’s ampliTex™ natural fibre reinforcement to deliver enhanced precision for better game control and playability to players of all levels while reducing environmental impact.

TotalEnergies Corbion (Gorinchem, the Netherlands) and Useon (Zhenjiang, China) have announced a strategic partnership to advance the development and global commercialization of EPLA moulded products – a new generation of sustainable, high-performance foam materials made from Luminy® PLA bioplastics.

Yesterday, BioMADE (Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN, USA) announced Maple Grove as the Minnesota site in its national network of bioindustrial manufacturing infrastructure.

SK Chemicals (Seongnam-si, South Korea) announced today that it has begun applying its biobased material ECOTRION to the 2025 Z-Star series golf balls from SRIXON, a global golf brand under Dunlop Sports Korea.

Biobased alternative to petroleum-based PTMEG to help customers reduce their reliance on non-renewable materials and maintain the durability and resilience of spandex, polyurethanes and thermoplastic elastomers.

Avantium (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) is pleased to announce significant progress in its collaboration with leading textile innovators to develop PEF (polyethylene furanoate)-based spacer fabric for Auping mattresses.

Polystyvert (Montreal, QC, Canada) recently announced that it is now extending its recycling by dissolution and purification technology platform to thermoplastics.

Arkema (La Défense, France), a leader in specialty materials, converts its full line of acrylic thickeners produced in Europe, ensuring the same high performances.

Econic Technologies, a deep tech company focused on renewable carbon, has signed a global license agreement for strategic rights to Saudi Aramco Technologies Company’s (SATC) CO2 polymer technologies.

Recently, lululemon has announced a multi-year collaboration with San Leandro, CA-based biotechnology pioneer ZymoChem to help expand the company’s use of biobased nylon and advance its leadership in sustainable innovation.

Poly(ester amide) is a next-generation material that combines the advantages of PET (polyester) and nylon (polyamide), two widely used plastics.

The Continental group (Hanover, Germany) sector Automotive has created a sustainable key fob which uses a 100 % biobased plastic for its outer casing.

Emirates Biotech (Dubai, UAE) has selected SAMSUNG E&A (Seoul, South Korea) as the contractor for its upcoming Polylactic Acid (PLA) production plant in the United Arab Emirates.

Certified sustainability for bioplastics compounds ARBOFORM®, ARBOBLEND®, and ARBOFILL®

In a recent webinar by the EU-funded 3-CO project, Martin Behrens from Fachagentur Nachwachsende Rohstoffe (FNR) gave an overview on biobased construction materials and their certification, and presented the Quality Seal for Sustainable Buildings (QNG). His insights are now available as webinar recording and in an in-depth interview.

Polytives, a specialist in the development and production of special polymer additives, announces the successful completion of a research project in collaboration with the Thuringian Institute for Textile and Plastics Research (TITK).

TotalEnergies Corbion (Gorinchem, the Netherlands) and Benvic (Dijon, France) have come together to drive the adoption of sustainable Luminy® PLA-based compounds.

Canplex Profiles are committed to driving meaningful change in the plastics industry through pioneering the use of biodegradable resins.

BASF is celebrating its first full container shipment of Elastollan® BMB – a new bio-attributed (mass balanced) thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) solutions, tailored for the footwear/apparel industry.

ReOil® technology offers a new way to tackle hard-to-recycle plastic, breaking it down into circular chemicals that can be fed back into new plastic production.

Braskem Siam, a joint venture between SCG Chemicals (SCGC) and Braskem, has signed a Letter of Intent with Mitr Phol Bio Fuel, part of the Mitr Phol Group to supply agricultural based ethanol for the production of bio-ethylene.

Designed to meet the growing demand for renewable solutions in the North American market, KEYGEA combines sustainability and outstanding performance, ensuring flawless coffee extraction without compromise on quality.

On March 18, 2025, Danimer Scientific (Bainbridge, GA, USA) and its subsidiaries filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and will be “undertaking an orderly winddown of operations”.

Agilyx announces the launch of Plastyx in collaboration with Carlos Monreal. Plastyx aims to be Europe's leading feedstock supplier to the advanced plastic recycling market.