With 210 participants and 15 exhibitors from 26 different countries, the “1st International Conference on Cellulose Fibres” in 2020 was a great success and exceeded all expectations. The trade press wrote: “nova-Institute hits the mark with new conference”. The focus of the conference was on markets, technologies and sustainability – and especially alternative cellulose feedstocks.
Building on this success, the 2nd International Conference on Cellulose Fibres will again cover the entire value chain from the lignocellulosic feedstock, dissolving pulp, cellulose fibres – such as rayon, viscose, modal or lyocell and new developments, to a wide range of applications, woven textiles (clothing) and non-wovens (wipes and technical applications). All these sectors have significantly gained in dynamics over the last few years.
Cellulose fibres are a success story within the textiles market with a cumulated annual growth rate (CAGR) between 5 and 10% over the last ten years – similar growth rates are expected in the next decade. This makes cellulose fibres the fastest growing fibre group in the textile industry and also the largest investment sector in the bio-based economy worldwide. The challenge now is to achieve a balance between the ongoing capacity expansion and the growing demand – to avoid over capacities, but also to cover the growing demand of the big brands.
The high growth rates are driven by the demand for natural fibres (and bottlenecks in cotton), the microplastic problem and possible bans for plastic fibres. All three drivers will continue to play a significant role in the future development of the sector.
Algal Omega-3 is an innovative feed product for aquaculture. It reduces the impact on climate change by 30-40% compared to fish oil and saves 60 tons of wild fish for every ton of Algal Omega-3 used.
Cheese is a vegetarian product thanks to biotechnology. Biotechnology is also essential to produce lactose- or cholesterol-free cheese, as well as alternative proteins.
Clothes made from alternative fibres produced by microorganisms can be 8x stronger than steel, 100% recyclable, biodegradable and replace fossil-fuel based or resource-intensive textiles.
The biomanufacturing of Vitamin B2 led to the reduction of 75% of fossil raw materials and 50% operating costs, compared to the chemical process. Vitamin B2 is used in the food, feed or healthcare sectors.
Enzymes and biosurfactancts are alternative ingredients that improve the performance of detergents, while leading to water and energy savings and reductions in CO2 emissions and water toxicity.
Insulin is one of the most widely known biopharmaceutical. Biotechnology revolutionised its manufacturing process and led to the development of new types of insulin through r-DNA technology.