traceless materials secures €36.6 Million Series A to build first industry plant for bio-circular alternative to plastic

Change-enabler for driving the green transformation of the industry

26-Sep-2023 - Bioeconomy startup traceless, which produces a natural biomaterial as an alternative to plastic, announces the completion of a €36.6 million funding round. The Series A funding round is led by private equity fund UB Forest Industry Green Growth Fund (“UB FIGG”), which invests in sustainable and ...

BluCon Biotech and LG Chem enter into unique investment agreement

BluCon Biotech's technology has the potential to be a disruptive game changer in the world's plastics market

16-Mar-2023 - BluCon Biotech, a German biotech company, and LG Chem,a Korean chemical company, have entered into an investment agreement to scale up and commercialize BluCon Biotech’s proprietary technology to supplement LG Chem´s bio-economy portfolio BluCon Biotech’s technology has the potential to be a ...

New starchy bioplastic could make soggy paper straws a thing of the past

08-Mar-2023 - In the fight against pollution, several regions in the U.S. have banned the use of plastic straws. Alternative materials exist, but most options are either too expensive to scale up, go limp in drinks or taste bad. But now, a team reporting in ACS Omega has developed a new type of bioplastic film ...

Carrots: Good for your eyes … and for degradable polymers

Researchers have incorporated a compound derived from β-carotene into a polymer that’s fully degradable

23-Feb-2023 - Carrots come in a rainbow of bright colors — red, orange, yellow and purplish black — because of compounds called carotenoids. They help support eye health by reacting with potentially harmful UV light. Interestingly, the molecular structures of carotenoids, such as β-carotene, are similar to the ...

Strong and biodegradable

A polyester plastic of great mechanical stability, which is also easily recyclable and even compostable

23-Dec-2022 - How can plastics be designed so they retain their desirable properties but at the same time can be more effectively recycled? This and other questions concerning the eco-friendliness of plastics are the focus of chemist Stefan Mecking and his research group at the University of Konstanz. In their ...

Steel mill gases transformed into bioplastic

Korea-Spain joint research team develops an itaconic acid mass production method using artificial enzymes

19-Oct-2022 - Food delivery makes it easy to enjoy delicious food in a snap. However, the plastic waste from food deliveries is rapidly polluting the environment and threatening our future. An alternative that has emerged is bioplastic, which is also called biodegradable plastic. Bioplastic that uses ...

A sea change for plastic pollution: new material biodegrades in ocean water

Marine microorganisms found to feast on new polyurethane materials used in a startup's sustainable shoes

26-Sep-2022 - Plastics, now ubiquitous in the modern world, have become a rising threat to human and environmental health. Around the planet, evidence of plastic pollution stretches from grocery bags in the deep sea to microplastics in our food supplies and even in our blood. Seeking solutions to counteract ...

Lessons from natural photosynthesis: conversion of CO₂ to raw materials for plastic!

Technology sequesters CO₂ emissions

31-Aug-2022 - In plants, natural photosynthesis binds carbon dioxide (CO2­) to organic compounds, which can then be converted into glucose or starch. These useful molecules can be sequestered, storing the carbon in a solid form. Artificial photosynthesis mimics this process by reducing the greenhouse gas CO2– ...

Edible, biodegradable, anti-microbial plastic boasts higher tensile strength than petroleum-based plastic

The material is produced from gelatin, clay and a nanoemulsion of black pepper essential oil

11-Mar-2022 - Disposal of food packaging is a major cause of environmental pollution worldwide. More than 350 million metric tons of plastic are produced every year, and 85% of the garbage dumped in the oceans is plastic, according to estimates. Brazil is the fourth-largest producer, accounting for some 11 ...

“Green” solvent and natural pigment to produce bioplastic

01-Mar-2022 - Scientists based in Brazil and Portugal have developed an environmentally sustainable process to produce biodegradable plastic using pigment extracted from yeast by “green” solvents. In an articlepublishedin the journalGreen Chemistry, they show that this biodegradable plastic could in future ...