Indian firm Aether Industries has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Chemoxy International, a UK-based subsidiary of Seqens. Under this, it will produce a series of natural biobased products exclusively for Seqens over an initial period of three years. No further details were disclosed. Production is expected to commence over the next ten months. The manufacturing process is said to involve a complex process and continuous reaction technology, which Aether and Seqens developed collaboratively over the past three years.

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU), a €2 billion partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) that funds projects advancing competitive circular bio-based industries in Europe, has signed 31 grant agreements with project teams selected in the 2023 calls. As a result, 396 beneficiaries from 34 countries across the EU and beyond will receive nearly €215 million in funding to develop circular and sustainable bio-based consumer products and industrial systems to replace fossil-based ones.

Evonik has revealed that it aims to generate at least €1 billion/year in additional sales a year from circular products and technologies, both in its own processes and support its customers in the transition to circular applications. The company’s strategy in this arena is based on multiple initiatives in which it claims that it is already contributing to the circular economy, notably:

* Further strengthening its activities in additives and specialities for the circular economy

* Making greater use of raw materials based on recycled materials, biomass and CO₂

Sona Dadhania, senior technology analyst at IDTechEx, shares some highlights from a new report

Origin Materials, which describes itself as a carbon-negative materials company has started up the first commercial-scale biobased chloromethyl furfural (CMF) plant at Sarnia, Ontario. CEO John Bissell said that he expects the  products “to be transformative for the chemical industry and how the world generally makes things”.

Greentech firm Afyren has announced the industrial commissioning of its Afyren Neoxy plant on schedule and within budget. The plant at Carling Saint-Avold in eastern France began construction in 2H 2020. It is the first industrial-scale factory for the production of biobased carboxylic acids from sugar beet co-products.

Through its own venture capital fund of Solvay Ventures, Solvay has made an unspecified investment in US-based DMC (Dynamic Metabolic Control) Biotechnologies. The $34-million Series B funding round also included Cibus Enterprise, Capricorn Partners, Sofinnova Partners, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, SCG, Boulder Ventures and Michelin.