Sustainable Industry Challenge 2020: Suiker Unie selects Bioextrax as winner with the best innovation
Suiker Unie has selected Bioextrax as the winner of its challenge in the green chemical theme of the Sustainable Industry Challenge 2020. This global competition was held by Economic Board Groningen to accelerate the transition to green solutions in the chemical and energy sectors. The final was held in Groningen on 7 and 8 January. Suiker Unie was one of the challenge owners.
Suiker Unie was looking for an innovative technology to convert sucrose into sustainable biopolymers. The Bioextrax startup has devised a sustainable technique to produce and extract PHA, a biobased plastic. No oil is needed to make these biodegradable plastics. Suiker Unie selected Bioextrax from seven potential partners. It was extremely enthusiastic about the quality of all their submissions and intends to explore joint innovation pathways with five of them.
An independent jury proclaimed CFK Recycling of Germany as the overall winner of the Sustainable Industry Challenge. CFK Recycling has devised a method to recycle carbon fibres. The scaleup has won €100,000 to spend on the further development of its innovation.
Valuable contacts
More than 200 startups entered the Sustainable Industry Challenge. Forty innovative businesses from 13 countries took part in the two-day final in Groningen, where they met regional players with a view to potential future cooperation.
Suiker Unie’s chief innovation officer, Olaf van Baal said, “We talked to a lot of interesting parties about how our sugar can be converted into valuable green chemicals. We made a lot of valuable contacts. The quality was surprisingly high. We’re certainly going to follow up on our contacts.”
For more information:
For more information, contact Joost de Swart, Innovation Process manager at joost.de.swart@suikerunie.com
Aftermovie of the event: