Cushioning packaging

Regional residue recycling

Husks, the mostly unused hulls of cereal grains, represent an organic alternative to Styrofoam. They can be used to create a natural packaging solution that can be produced regionally from natural residues and developed to suit specific shapes. After use, this can be recycled or returned to the life cycle - due to its composition of purely organic components, the material should be biodegradable and home compostable; the corresponding certification is currently awaited.

Start-up Traceless Materials nominated for German Founder Award

For decades, the German Founder Award has been promoting entrepreneurial achievements and business ideas that are particularly capable of meeting the challenges of the future and sustainably changing entire industries. The award, which was established in 1997, is presented annually in the categories Student, StartUp, Newcomer and Lifetime Achievement. The jury has now once again selected founders whose business models challenge traditional methods. This year's winners include the bioeconomy start-up Traceless Materials.

Super glue from mistletoe berries

Mistletoe branches are considered lucky charms in many places. Here, the white berried mistletoe (Viscum album) with its white berry fruits is particularly widespread. It grows on deciduous trees such as birches, poplars or apple trees and is considered a semi-parasitic plant because it extracts water and the mineral salts it contains from the host plant. The white berries of mistletoe have now attracted the interest of materials scientists at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPIKG) in Potsdam.

Generate hydrogen from biogas

Germany wants to become climate-neutral by 2045, and greenhouse gas emissions are to be reduced by 65% as early as 2030 - this is what the German government has stipulated in the new Climate Protection Act. To achieve this ambitious goal, production processes must also become more sustainable - for example, in the manufacture of hydrogen. It is seen as the energy carrier of the future. However, production is very energy-intensive. Partners from science and industry now want to tackle this problem.

Chicken substitute from soy for restaurants

From sausage spreads to cold cuts or burgers: plant-based sausage and meat alternatives are now part of the standard range in many supermarkets. However, they are still the exception on the menus of German restaurants. That could soon change. After the Netherlands and the UK, Singapore-based food tech startup Next Gen Foods, led by German co-founder Timo Recker, is now launching its plant-based chicken brand TiNDLE in Germany.

Phytic acid is biobased and surprisingly versatile

Phytic acid is a molecule that many plants produce to store phosphorus and that can interfere with digestion in humans because, as a complexing agent, it binds metals insolubly and thus impedes their absorption via the digestive tract. However, the NPBioPhos research project has revealed that the molecule appears to have long unrecognized talents.

The search for the perfect plasticizer

Rubber ducks are mostly made of the plastic PVC and a remarkably high proportion of plasticizers: 35% to 40%. And not only rubber ducks need plasticizers, but everything from children's toys to packaging material, plastic components or medical products. Anyone who wants sustainable, bio-based plastics as an alternative to petrochemical products therefore also needs bio-based solutions for plasticizers. This is precisely what project partners from the Technical University of Hamburg, the University of Bielefeld and the chemical company BASF have set out to achieve.