Solvay opens biotechnology lab in Brazil

In Brazil, Solvay has opened its first fully dedicated Industrial Biotechnology Laboratory (IBL) to boost the development of innovations and solutions based on sustainable chemistry, used in a growing range of end-markets.

The fully integrated laboratory in Paulinia will chiefly focus on researching new processes and molecules derived from biomass, which is mostly plant or vegetable based and abundantly available in Brazil with its favourable climate and vast surface.

'With this laboratory Solvay can further nourish its innovation portfolio, using renewable resources, with tailored solutions to meet sustainability demands from customers in multiple end-markets,' says Louis Neltner, Solvay's Research & Innovation Group general manager. 'Thanks to Brazil's wide variety of biomass, competitive agricultural businesses and biotech expertise the country has all the required conditions to develop and grow products and solutions based on renewable resources.'

The laboratory's researchers will work jointly with the group's Global Business units in Solvay's research and innovation centres worldwide as well as with external partners including public and private institutions.

For many decades now Solvay has been developing products and solutions based on bio-sourced raw materials such as ethanol and glycerol. Its growth and innovation strategy responds to society's challenges in dealing with the scarcity of resources amid growing industrialization, urbanization and an increasing number of consumers.