Biome Bioplastics joins event in Parliament to launch new National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030 

6 June 2018
Biome Bioplastics joins event in Parliament to launch new National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030 

This morning Biome Bioplastics CEO Paul Mines joined colleagues from the Industrial Biotechnology Leadership Forum (IBLF), the UK BioIndustry Association (BIA), CBMNet and BIOCATNET to launch the new ‘National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030’. The launch event was hosted in Parliament by Daniel Zeichner, MP for Cambridge.  

The national strategy aims to position the UK as a leader in the global shift towards clean growth by fostering the development of industrial biotech SMEs. At the launch, Paul Mines explained how industrial biotechnology can underpin the potential of bioplastics to reduce and replace plastic waste. 

Over the last five years, Biome Bioplastics has led a pioneering research programme that has invested £5m in developing the next generation of bioplastics using Industrial Biotechnology (IB) to improve performance and move costs on par with oil-based plastics. CEO Paul Mines commented:

The Strategy announced today provides a framework for industrial biotechnology in the UK that will allow SMEs, including Biome Bioplastics, to play their part in the clean growth agenda by growing fast whilst reducing waste.  

The current scale of oil-based plastic waste is simply unacceptable and I’m encouraged that UK consumers are getting so vocal about this. Bioplastics are a viable and responsible alternative, however, they only account for a fraction of today’s plastic production. Industrial biotechnology provides the underpinning science that will unlock improved material performance and use of bio-based inputs leading to widespread use of the next generation of bio-based and biodegradable plastics.

The Strategy will be implemented in three phases with actions planned across seven themes:

  1. External environment – to achieve consensus on a consistent long-term policy landscape that supports industrial biotech. 
  2. Funding and access to finance – leading to a supportive financial environment that recognises the potential of Industrial Biotechnology for driving growth and innovation. 
  3. Infrastructure and regional footprint – ensuring that industrial biotech is a major contributor to clean economic growth across the whole of the UK. 
  4. Trade, investment and commercialisation – positioning the UK as an international industrial biotech innovation and commercialisation hub. 
  5. Regulations and standards – making certain that UK frameworks are recognised as robust and supportive of risk aware innovation. 
  6. Skills – fostering the skills required by industry to ensure that the industrial biotech sector is recognised as an attractive career option. 
  7. Communication –  promoting one Industrial Biotechnology community voice, with consistent clear messages, where wider society is well informed and supportive of Responsible Research and Innovation in industrial biotech. 

These actions aim to place Industrial Biotechnology at the core of the UK Industrial Strategy and the Bioeconomy Strategy, embedding industrial biotech products and processes at the centre of a future hi-tech economy, driving clean growth and national prosperity.  

The full “National Industrial Biotechnology Strategy to 2030” is available on the BIA website: https://www.bioindustry.org/resource-listing/a-national-industrial-biotechnology-strategy-to-2030.html