Biobased materials

From challenge to competitive edge

Comfortable textiles. Durable pet toys. High-gloss coatings. Strong PVC pipes. Across countless applications, products rely on chemical building blocks – e.g., in their structure or as an additive in their formulation – for their performance.

However, companies face a critical question: how can they replace fossil-based chemicals with biobased alternatives without compromising quality, efficacy, or scalability? The answer lies in reaching beyond simple replacement.

TNO supports efforts to develop circular and sustainable plastics at every stage of development. We help to identify the best route to sustainable, biobased alternatives and uncover novel polymer compositions.

We develop, test, and produce sample quantities of biobased materials that our partners can test, and engage our network to support scalability. We also enable the technologies and processes that assess the retained quality of polymers after recycling. We apply our expertise, facilities, and network to accelerate the entire value chain’s transition to 100% circular plastics.

Challenge-centred approach

Each chemical building block is unique and must fulfil a specific set of parameters. TNO works along the entire plastics value chain to research, develop, test, and scale-up biobased monomers and additives that meet our partners’ exacting standards for sustainability and performance. The more challenging those parameters are, the greater our impact.

With decades of expertise, cutting-edge technology, and an extensive network of partners, we stand ready to replace all fossil-based chemical building blocks with sustainable and competitive bio-alternatives.

While we actively pursue biobased drop-ins to replace current fossil-based feedstock, we also encourage our partners to think beyond simple replacements. We work on near drop-in and novel alternatives that offer enhanced performance.

When companies provide us with specific requirements for the targeted materials, TNO can develop solutions with the potential to give our partners a clear competitive advantage. Want your coating to be more sustainable and durable, your plasticizers to be high performing and biodegradable, or your packaging to be stronger and less brittle? Together, we can make it happen.

Application-based solutions

We have extensive expertise in biobased chemistry targeting both drop-in and novel alternatives for today’s petrochemical building blocks. For example, starting from residual sugars, the byproduct of bio-refineries, we have developed different platform technologies to produce biobased aromatic and aliphatic chemical building blocks for applications such as polyesters, surfactants*, coatings, adhesives and plasticizers**. We focus on developing efficient and scalable processes that deliver industrially relevant products.

We always advise our clients about the best possible approach for their objectives, and aim for the most sustainable processes possible. Whether you seek surfactants that degrade more swiftly, fibres that release significantly less microplastic, or plasticizers that increase strength, durability, or flexibility, we’ll develop the process and the biobased building blocks you need to achieve market leadership and environmental responsibility.

Key definitions

*surfactants reduce surface tension, allowing water to wet and penetrate surfaces it normally can’t, which enables cleaning by helping water mix with oils and lift away dirt.

**plasticizers embed between polymer chains, giving plastics their strength and flexibility and reducing brittleness.

Bring us your challenge

Whatever properties your materials must possess, or whatever challenges you aim to overcome, TNO stands ready to guide your path toward a biobased solution. We encourage you to visit us in Hall 7, Stand SC10 at K Fair 2025, from 8 to 15 October, and share your biggest challenges. Or, contact us for more information. We are ready to get started.