‘White biotechnology’ on the road to Europe

Date: 17/04/03

By Karen Carstens

THE biotech industry urges the EU to act now to promote one of its most promising future products - plastics.

After biotech medicines and biotech crops, 'bio-plastics' could be the next big thing. They are created via bio-processes, known as 'white biotechnology', that can also be used to produce antibiotics, vitamins, detergents and textile fibres.

In the US, where the promise of a new 'bio-based economy' has spurred a long-term strategy and technology road-map to 2020, companies already produce bio-materials for use in soft-drink cups, bedding and clothing.

But 'white biotechnology' has yet to hit Europe.

To help it along, a group of companies that convened recently in Lyon for a conference dubbed 'BioVision' called on the EU to back industrial biotechnology.

"Now the technology has arrived and it has a lot to offer," said Steen Riisgard, head of Danish firm Novozymes A/S, the world's largest manufacturer of enzymes.

The companies presented studies to show that the use of micro-organisms such as moulds, bacteria and enzymes in industrial production can help cut back on the consumption of water, energy and raw materials.

Feike Sijbesma, chairman of industry group EuropaBio and a member of the board of Dutch chemicals group DSM, said white biotechnology can make both environmental and economic sense.

"When people talk about using environmental technologies, they think it will cost a company more. It can also be quite beneficial for economic reasons," he said.

EuropaBio estimates white biotechnology could account for 10-20 of European chemical production by 2010, up from 5, and save €11-22 billion through lower production costs.

Producing vitamin B2 using enzymes rather than complex chemical synthesis, for example, has cut production costs by 40.

Firms want the European Commission to come up with a regulatory framework, making it possible and attractive to exploit white biotechnology.

The biotech industry urges the EU to act now to promote one of its most promising future products - plastics.