This week is chock-full of press releases especially coming from K2013 that hopefully it will calm down next week because it is my newsletter deadline week!

For this news, Genomatica has been building up the downstream applications for its bio-based butanediol (BDO) and at the K Show, the company announced partners such as DSM and Lanxess achieving product milestones in the use Genomatica’s BDO to make bio-based PBT (polybutylene terephthalate) – a thermoplastic engineering polymer made from BDO and terephthalic acid, and is closely related to thermoplastic polyesters such as PET.

In June, Lanxess announced that it has converted 20 tons of BDO made with Genomatica’s process at their world-scale PBT plant. At the K Show, some of Lanxess’ customers such as Mennekes and Trevira have showcased product samples that used bio-PBT incorporating Genomatica’s BDO technology.

Electrical products producer Mennekes has made electrical junction boxes while Trevira, a manufacturer of high-tech polyester fibers and filaments, made a non-woven technical textile that are often used in protective clothing. I guess now they just have to wait for any of Genomatica’s process licensee to produce bio-BDO materials so they can start marketing these products.

A sample junction box from Menneke made with Lanxess’ bio-based PBT; and fibers from Trevira, for technical non-woven applications.