IFF and Kemira’s New Joint Venture Will Produce Biobased Materials at Scale

IFF and Kemira have forged a new joint venture, Alpha Bio, aimed at commercial-scale production of renewable biobased materials.

With an investment of approximately €130 million, the Alpha Bio facility will begin production in late 2027, converting up to 44,000 MT of plant sugars to bioproducts, including high-performance biopolymers for use in various applications, such as home and personal care and industrial solutions. Alpha Bio’s production will use IFF’s Designed Enzymatic Biomaterial (DEB) platform technology, integrated at the IFF biorefinery in Kotka, Finland.

“Our partnership with Kemira has reached a significant milestone, enabling us to scale the production of groundbreaking biobased materials to meet the large and growing demand for high-performing and sustainable alternatives to fossil-derived polymers,” said Erik Fyrwald, IFF CEO. “IFF’s DEB technology not only guarantees superior purity and consistency compared to traditional biopolymers but also enhances performance across various applications. This innovative approach allows us to combine biodegradability and material sustainability while maintaining cost efficiency and the high performance our customers expect.”

Biotech Breakdown

IFF’s DEB platform leverages biotechnology by using plant-based sugars and enzymes under mild process conditions to create biobased materials, which can be tailored for specific product applications. This allows manufacturers to replace traditional fossil-based synthetic polymers with more sustainable alternatives. This highly efficient enzymatic polymerization process converts plant sugars to biopolymers, offering superior purity and consistency compared to conventional synthetic polymers. These tailored biopolymers enhance product performance across diverse applications.

“Since 2020, we’ve been collaborating with IFF using the DEB platform technology, which has allowed us to bring sustainable innovation to our key markets,” said Antti Salminen, CEO, Kemira Oyj. “The new joint venture will build on this initial success, enabling us to scale up production and provide new performance-competitive alternatives to fossil-based products in key markets, including paper and board packaging, paper coatings, and water treatment, while continuing to develop opportunities across other growth markets.”

Operating as an independent entity in Kotka, the joint venture will manufacture a specific line of products enabled by DEB technology for exclusive use by IFF and Kemira. The creation of Alpha Bio is expected to generate approximately 30 direct new jobs in the Kotka area with additional job creation during the project’s construction phase.