Nova-Institute launches new Renewable Materials Conference

Germany-based nova-Institute, a privately-owned research and consultancy organisation with a focus on the bio-based and CO2-based economy has devised a new conference concept for the renewables field. Adopting a more holistic approach to the renewable material solutions emerging today, nova-Institute is launching a new, three-day ‘renewables’ conference combining all relevant industries involved in the development of renewable material solutions: bio-based, CO2-based and recycled.

The Renewable Materials Conference is the follow-up event to nova-Institute’s long-running bio-based materials conference, but also integrates topics from its Biocomposites Conference, traditionally held in Cologne.  As well, it will cover chemicals and polymers derived from CO2, and new solutions from the field of recycling.

The Renewables Materials Conference is this year necessarily a virtual event. Scheduled to take place 18-20 May,  nova-Institute confidently expects it to draw around 400 participants.

A special focus of the conference is on renewable polymers, plastics and biocomposites, with presentations on the latest developments in CO2- and bio-based polymers and plastics from market leaders such as Avantium (NL), Braskem (BR), Carbiolice (FR), Covestro (DE), FKur (DE), IFF (US) and Lignin Industries (SE). The nova-Institute will present the first peer-reviewed LCA on PEF. Another important area of interest is cellulose fibres and biocomposites. In presentations from market leaders such as Amorim (PT), Bcomp (CH), HempFlax (NL), Lenzing (AT) and Stora Enso (SE), participants will be brought up to date on  will the latest innovations in this field. Nova-Institute itself will present a market and trend overview of the entire field of renewable materials.

Neste (FI), Sorona (US), SUGAR ENERGY (CN) and UPM (FI) are supporting the conference as Gold Sponsors; the silver sponsors are Alfa Laval (SE), FKuR (DE), MMAtwo (EU), Photanol/Renolit (NL, DE).  LanzaTech (US) is a Bronze Sponsor.

A new award programme has also been put in place for the conference, sponsored by Covestro. The organisers received some 36 submissions from all over the world, from which were a group of six finalists were culled. Each finalist will present his or her new technologies and applications to a wide audience at the Renewable Materials Conference, which will then vote on the winning entry.

To qualify for the new Renewable Material of the Year 2021 award, the entries had to be new and either already on the market or very close to market commercialisation. The finalists that made the cut included three advanced recycling technologies, a CO2-based cleaner, plant leather and a hemp chair:

• MMAtwo (European Union): Regenerated Methyl Methacrylate (MMA) for 100 % recycled acrylic sheets and composites
  New polymers are obtained from regenerated MMA derived from depolymerised PMMA, using a technology developed within the scope of the EU funded project MMAtwo. The material will enter the market soon.
   
• Carbios (France): First clear plastic bottles from enzymatically recycled textile waste
  Carbios is the first and only company that develops biological processes to revolutionise the end-of-life of plastics and textiles. This enzymatic recycling technology deconstructs any type of PET plastic waste into its basic monomers, which can then be reused to produce new PET plastics of virgin quality. The process enables polyester fibres to be upcycled to a high-quality grade of PET suitable for the production of clear bottles.
   
• Eastman (USA): Eastman’s advanced circular recycling technologies
  Molecular recycling technologies can lead to a truly circular solution for waste materials that were previously destined to end up in landfills or incinerators. Eastman's Advanced Circular Recycling Technologies, break down plastic waste into molecular building blocks and rebuild them into new materials like carpets and textiles, thus creating a truly circular solution. By 2030, Eastman expects to recycle up to 225,000 tonnes of waste plastic annually.
   
• LanzaTech (USA/Switzerland): CO2 recycling for CarbonSmart cleaning
  In 2020, Switzerland’s largest retail company, Migros, and its subsidiary, Mibelle Group, launched a range of liquid cleaning products containing LanzaTech CarbonSmart Ethanol as part of Migros Plus Oeco Power and Potz cleaning ranges. These products are now on sale in Migros supermarkets in Switzerland. The CarbonSmart Ethanol is produced from recycled carbon from steel emissions. The new pathway reduces greenhouse gas emissions and keeps additional fossil resources in the ground, protects biodiversity and avoids land use change.
   
• Malai Biomaterials Design (India): Malai – plant leather made from coconut wastewater and natural fibres
  Malai is a novel biocomposite material based on bacterial cellulose cultivated on wastewater from mature coconuts blended with fibres from banana stem, hemp and sisal. Similar to leather in its properties and appearance, it is made without any oil-based or toxic substances, is bio-based and home compostable. Malai uses the wastewater from coconut processing plants in Southern India. A small coconut plant disposes of about 4,000 litres of this water per day, which is usually discharged into the environment where it acidifies the soil. Malai collects and sterilises the water, which can then be used as feed for the bacteria. This bacterium produces nano cellulose sheets, which are further enriched with natural fibres to obtain the final material.
   
• Plantics (The Netherlands) & Vepa (The Netherlands): most sustainable chair ever from hemp fibres and thermoset bioresin
  Following two years of intensive collaboration and testing, Dutch furniture manufacturer Vepa became the first in the world to launch a collection of chairs with a shell made from fully biological, plant-based and recyclable hemp fibre and bioresin. The unique bio-based resin and material are part of a new, patented family of bio-based materials developed by Plantics. The production process absorbs more CO2 than it emits. In addition, the chairs are designed in such a way that the various parts are easy to separate and materials can be reused endlessly.