Gorinchem, The Netherlands -- Purac, a CSM NV company, signed a research contract to participate in the research programme of BE-Basic on 18 Feb 2010. This consortium consists of international knowledge institutes, the Dutch government, global industry and financial partners. The research programme aims at developing an economy based on renewable resources.
Purac is an appropriate partner in this consortium, as it develops new sustainable building blocks for the chemical industry.
Purac already has some important initiatives in this area in lactides for poly lactic acid (PLA) and in succinic acid - where CSM has a joint project with BASF SE.
According to Purac, the new initiative will also speed up Purac's programme to use alternative biomass such as agricultural byproducts instead of sugars, glucose and tapioca starch as substrates for its fermentation processes.
The Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands is coordinating the initiative that includes, among others, an R&D budget exceeding Euros 120 million ($163 million), half of which is from the Dutch Ministries of Finance and Economic Affairs. In this programme, BE-Basic also plans for a multi-purpose bioprocess facility for scale-up research, suited to both current and future technologies.
Purec's work with BE-Basic will boost Purac's development of sustainable chemistry, said Gerard Hoetmer, ceo of CSM, in an 18 Feb company statement, adding: "This programme gives us a considerable opportunity together with our partners, to grow the market for bio-based chemicals and contribute to a sustainable economy."
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