This Wednesday (25th March), Minister for Youth and Women’s Employment, Annabelle Ewing MSP, officially opened the world’s first plant dedicated to the production of an innovative cellulose based product that is set to kick start the Scottish Government’s journey to establish Scotland as a world leader in bio-refinery, an industry already estimated to be worth nearly £200m to the Scottish economy. As part of the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology, The Scottish Government’s aim is to reach £900m per year in bio-refineries by 2025.
The plant, based in Glenrothes, Fife is the first factory opened by dynamic material science company, Cellucomp, and will be dedicated to the production of their ground breaking product Curran®, a material developed from the extraction of nano-cellulose fibres from waste streams of root vegetables or, in other words, the humble carrot and sugar beet. Founded in 2005 by Dr David Hepworth and Dr Eric Whale, two expert material scientists, CelluComp develops high performance products based on sustainable resources. After years in research and development, the company is now gearing up for expansion having established that Curran® uniquely offers exceptional rheological and mechanical properties for many potential applications including paper and packaging, personal care, home care, concrete, drilling fluids, composites, food and, in particular, paints and coatings.
