Winners of the “Bio-based Material of the Year 2019” Compostable sanitary pads from India, sustainable fibres from Finland and home compostable coffee capsules from Germany are the winners of the innovation award “Bio-based Material of the Year 2019” For the 12th year in a row, the innovation award “Bio-based Material of the Year” has been granted to the young, innovative bio-based chemicals and materials industry. After a 10-minute presentation from each of the six nominated companies, the three winners were chosen by the expert audience at the “12th International Conference on Bio-based Materials”. The six nominees were previously selected by a jury from a total of 21 submissions. With more than 270 participants and 30 exhibitors, the conference was able to further establish itself as one of the world’s most important meeting places for the leaders of the bioeconomy. Organizer Michael Carus, nova-Institute, was enthusiastic about the overwhelming response: “The most important pioneers of the global bioeconomy met in Cologne and exchanged views on the strong dynamics of the industry. Previous hopefuls of the bio-based chemistry are weakening and others are making amazing breakthroughs!” The winners in detail: First place: Aakar Innovations Pvt. Ltd. (IN): Anandi Eco+ – 100% Compostable Sanitary Pads Anandi Eco+ is the first and only Govt. of India Lab certified 100% compostable sanitary pad. In a compost environment, at least 90% of the pad are biodegraded within 180 days. Under other conditions in nature it takes longer respectively. The pads can be disposed easily in the backyard mud pit of any rural household to avoid polluting the environment and create bio-manure for agriculture. More information: http://www.aakarinnovations.com Second place: Spinnova Oy (FI): Spinnova – Sustainable Textile Fibre Spinnova is a sustainable fibre company from Finland that develops ecological breakthrough technology for manufacturing cellulose-based textile fibre. Spinnova’s patented technology does without harmful chemicals and creates no waste or side streams, making the fibre and the production method probably the most sustainable in the world. The biggest difference to other man-made cellulosic fibres is that no chemical dissolution takes place throughout the whole process. More information: http://www.spinnova.com Third place: Golden Compound GmbH (DE): HOMEcap – Home Compostable Coffee Capsules HOMEcap is the world’s first and only home compostable capsule successfully introduced in the market that is ‘OK compost HOME’ certified and made with natural fibres of the sunflower seed hull. The biodegradation in home compost avoids considerable waste streams. The capsule was successfully launched on the market in the spring of this year. It is made from a unique compound comprising PTTMCCs PBS and PBSA mixed with sunflower seed shells and inorganic fillers. More information: http://www.golden-compound.com This award has been sponsored by InfraServ Knapsack and organized by nova-Institute (both located in Hürth, Germany). The CSCP is a media partner of the Conference on Bio-based Materials. Please contact Jana Brauer for further questions