Sumitomo Chemical, along with private equity firm Outlook Investment Group, has announced an investment in Sweegen, a maker of stevia-based sweeteners for the food market. Terms of the investment, including its size, have not been disclosed. Sweegen launched a product line of stevia sweeteners combined with modulators, mouthfeel, and texture ingredients earlier this year.
The investment will help fund the expansion of a manufacturing site in Europe to produce 3,000 metric tons/year of stevia sweeteners, Sweegen says. “We are developing our strategic partnership with SweeGen to be part of the continuous success in providing the natural sweetener market with the latest innovations and advanced technologies, and also extending our established relationship into new ventures in the field of synthetic biology,” says Hiroshi Ueda, vice president at Sumitomo Chemical.
By Vincent Valk
Source: Chemical Week
The US State of New York is introducing two new bills to combat over-packaging, poor recycling rates and litter issues, including an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program requiring companies such as McDonald’s and Amazon to pay for the cost of packaging disposal and recycling.
The new organization’s mission is to redesign the critical steps of the plastics sorting and recycling system for post-consumer lightweight packaging (LWP) to speed up circularity, born from a need to meet the rising market demand for high-quality recyclates for use in high-end plastic applications.
Starbucks and Hubbub have launched a £1 million (US$1.22 million) “Bring It Back Fund” to increase the uptake of reusable packaging in the F&B industry. The funding will go toward innovative ideas that make it easier for customers to use alternatives to single-use packaging by supporting pilot projects that help shift consumption habits.
