Seaweed-Lined To-Go Containers, Pepsi’s Molded Pulp 6-Pack Rings, Hydrogen-Powered Arctic Station, “Infinite” Toothbrush, and More: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the Week of March 5th

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Sit back and just imagine, hanging out at the new International Arctic Station that runs on solar, wind, and hydrogen power, sipping on a Pepsi 6-pack that came in molded pulp rings, eating lunch from a seaweed lined food container, wearing your cool Skechers kicks made with tire king Goodyear’s soybean oil-based rubber technology, then brushing your teeth after lunch with a biobased “infinite” closed loop toothbrush…sounds great doesn’t it? It’s not even a dream, it’s just this week’s Top 10 Innovations!

In today’s Digest, get the latest news on these innovations and others like boosted production of biobased epichlorohydrin, operations beginning on a biobased methanol plant in Sweden, and more! READ MORE

#6 From tree to tank: Forest co-op starts up biobased methanol plant in Sweden

In Sweden, forest co-op Södra has begun operations at a biobased methanol plant at its Mönsterås pulp mill. The company expects to deliver its first shipment to Emmelev A/S, which will use the methanol to produce biodiesel.

“The transition to a bioeconomy means that all raw materials must be used efficiently,” Henrik Brodin, strategic business development manager at Södra, tells Canadian Biomass Magazine. “Biomethanol is produced from the crude methanol recovered from the manufacturing process at Södra’s pulp mills. It is part of the circular process that already exists in Södra’s mills, in which all parts of forest products are used for the best possible effect. With this step, we are showing the way to a fossil-free society, and it is fully in line with our own strategy for fossil-free transportation by 2030.”
More on the story, here.

#8 Trash-to-sugar project wins EU grant

In Europe, a consortium of 11 companies has received funding to develop a process that converts household waste into biobased materials.

Dubbed VAMOS—or Value Added Materials from Organic Waste Sugars—the project will receive €7 million ($7.8 million) from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research program.

The project aims to extract sugars from paper and card-based materials found in municipal solid waste. The sugars will then be used to produce biobased products, reducing the need to use first-generation sugars from agricultural products like sugar beets.

The consortium includes companies from the United Kingdom, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Austria, and Denmark.

“Securing this important EU funding enables us to take our promising pilot-scale work over the last five years to the next stage and demonstrate its commercial viability as an economically and environmentally sustainable process,” Nick Thompson, Managing Director of Fiberight Limited, a member of the consortium, tells European Plastic Product Manufacturer.
More on the story, here.