Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes toured Scotland’s first biorefinery as it reached a milestone in its drive to commercialise ground breaking technology. Celtic Renewables has recently released the first tanker load of green chemicals from its Grangemouth plant, marking the beginning of regular shipments.

Concinnity Genetics, an Edinburgh-based gene control company, is thrilled to announce the closure of its oversubscribed £3m seed funding round. The investment was led by Eos Advisory with support from Scottish Enterprise, Old College Capital (OCC) - the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture investment fund, and Maven Capital Partners.

University of Edinburgh spinout Carbogenics, a leading innovator in sustainable biochar technology, is thrilled to announce the successful close of its latest funding round, securing just under half a million pounds. This significant milestone reflects the confidence of both existing and new investors in Carbogenics’ mission to revolutionise sustainable solutions and expand its global footprint.

A team of researchers in Scotland is supporting a clean tech startup to transform low-value co-products from the forestry sector into eco-friendly alternatives to chemicals found in everyday items.

Aberdeen-based biotechnology company NCIMB is collaborating with the pioneering Rowett Institute to develop a tool that will improve understanding of microbes that have important roles in human health and disease, and support development of new treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease and cancer. The work has received funding from Innovate UK.

Independent waste management business Coastal Recycling is set to become the first in Devon to turn waste once destined for landfill or incineration into coal-replacing fuel. Using an innovative biotechnology solution from Advetec, Coastal will turn around 5,200 tonnes of the black bag waste it collects each year into Solid Recovered Fuel (SRF).

In a groundbreaking collaboration, EnviroFlight, North America’s leader in sustainable insect-based ingredients, and Entocycle, a tech pioneer in insect farming, are excited to announce the successful implementation of Entocycle’s advanced optical dosing solution, Entosight Neo

MarinaTex, a pioneer in developing marine-derived biomaterials as alternatives to problematic single-use plastics, has announced the appointment of Craig Sterling as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Independent Scottish distillery Eden Mill has announced a partnership with leading Scottish biotech company, and Earthshot Prize finalists, MiAlgae, to repurpose whisky effluent, a by-product of distillation, to grow microalgae as a sustainable source of Omega-3s.

MiAlgae, a leader in sustainable food production and marine ecosystem restoration, has been recognised as a finalist for the prestigious 2024 Earthshot Prize.

E.V.A Biosystems has secured the top spot in the SSE-sponsored Net Zero category at the Converge Awards thanks to its groundbreaking ‘smart’ plastic that senses its surroundings and degrades on contact with seawater, offering a microplastic-free solution to the global issue of ocean pollution.

In August, Isomerase, a synthetic biology company who use microbes to make a range of products from therapeutics to enzymes, announced the launch of a powerful new tool designed to enhance the directed evolution of enzymes.

Green Bioactives (GBL), a pioneering world-class company in the discovery, development and sustainable production of high value plant-based products, is delighted to announce that it has been awarded a £100,000 Scottish Enterprise SMART grant.

A new method to extract valuable bio-based chemicals from whisky distillery waste streams could transform manufacturing and be worth up to £90 million in global chemical manufacturing markets.

Waste textiles from sailing boats could be given a new lease of life as a result of a research project upcycling plastic fibres from sails into new chemicals such as vanillin – the compound used in cosmetics and food products for a vanilla flavour and smell.

Aberdeen-based biotechnology company NCIMB has kicked-off a new research project to demonstrate novel enzyme technology with an exciting array of potential applications in the pharmaceutical, food & drink and environmental sectors. The work is being supported with a Bio-based Manufacturing in Scotland grant from Innovate UK.

Addressing heavy metal pollution is one of the most hotly contested areas of environmental research. Several individual treatments, namely, physical, chemical, and biological are being utilised to remove heavy metals from the environment – but they all face challenges in terms of sustainability, expensiveness and in-situ treatment failure. In this article, Leigh Cassidy discusses SEM’s latest approach to the issue.

Carbogenics has announced the opening of their new cutting-edge site, dedicated to the production of their flagship product, CreChar, set to revolutionise the anaerobic digestion (AD) market.

A Scottish startup using seaweed as the base for natural fabric dyes could help fashion and textiles manufacturers improve sustainability and reduce their reliance on petrochemical-derived colourings. 

An Edinburgh-based startup is exploring a new technology that could create gluten-safe food products, such as bread, while retaining the taste and texture of the real thing.