More entries than ever and even better quality in this year's Bio Business Awards as World Bio Markets Celebrates its 10th Year Anniversary

3 March 2015 – The nominations have been counted and the results are in as the winners of the 2015 Bio Business Awards were announced last night at the World Bio Markets event in Amsterdam.

Hosted at the National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam, the black-tie, 5-star gala dinner celebrated some of the leading bio pioneers in the industry, and was attended by some of the biggest names in bioeconomy.

Commenting on the results, CEO of Green Power Conferences, Nadim Chaudhry, said: "Our industry has such outstanding leaders, innovative technology and ground-breaking partnerships happening all the time. Every year our awards gather in both volume and quality of submission and the judges find it increasingly difficult to choose a winner. We are delighted with the calibre of this year's winners and the vision and innovation of their entries."

This year saw BIOTECHCORP Malysia crowned WBM industry champion 2015. "This award really means a lot to the team, particularly for what it shows in our efforts to push the bio industry in Malaysia. It is testament that what we are doing is on the right track and we look forward to pushing this industry further in Malaysia," said Zainal Azman Abu Kasim, Senior Vice President, Bioindustrial at BIOTECHCORP Malaysia.

AkzoNobel and Photanol Co-operation won the bio-based chemical collaboration of the year award. "Our pioneering work with Photanol has the potential to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and we're delighted that such an exciting collaboration has been recognised with this important award," said Marco Waas, AkzoNobel's Director of RD&I and Technology. "Winning the award also demonstrates that our Planet Possible agenda of doing more with less is making great progress, and we remain committed to working with key partners in order to make our global activities even more sustainable, resulting in benefits both for ourselves and our customers."

Talking about the collaboration and what it means for the bioeconomy, Professor Klaas Hellingwerf, Head of Research at Photanol said: "The Photanol company was founded in 2008 to work in the field of renewable energy. Granting of this award for bio-based chemical collaboration of the year underlines the fact that our company has successfully made the transition from the renewable energy field to the field of producing chemicals and commodities - from CO2 - using the bio-based approach!"

The award for breakthrough bio-based technology platform went to DuPont Sorona. "We are honoured that WBM has recognized Sorona with the 2015 bio business award for breakthrough bio-based technology platform," said Simon Herriott, Business Director for Biomaterials at DuPont. "DuPont is committed to continuing to innovate with technologies like Sorona that allow designers the freedom to be creative without compromising on performance or quality. With Sorona, everyone benefits. Textile mills, designers and manufacturers can offer consumers sustainable clothing that is supremely wearable, easy to care for and more gentle on the planet."

UPM Biofuels received the award for commercial scale plant of the year. "We are proud to receive this prestigious international award for our newly commissioned commercial scale biorefinery," said Sari Mannonen, Sales & Marketing Director of the UPM Biofuels Business. "We have come a long way from developing the innovative process since 2008, building the biorefinery, and starting commercial production of renewable wood-based diesel. UPM Biofuels team members are very excited about making this happen as the first in the world, and highly appreciate this recognition for our first biorefinery investment."

Jennifer Holmgren, CEO at LanzaTech was crowned WBM bio-based businessperson of the year. "It is such a pleasure to be part of an industry that is changing the way the world sources energy and treats carbon emissions," said Jennifer Holmgren. "Together, we will show the world that the needs of the environment and society are not at odds with growing the economy. Someday, CleanTech will be the economy!"

LanzaTech also won an award for feedstock of the year. "Today we recycle metal, paper, plastics - why not recycle carbon? Today multiple technologies exist that can utilize waste carbon streams to produce valuable fuels and chemicals while mitigating GHG emissions," said LanzaTech's Jennifer Holmgren. "Utilizing carbon as a feedstock will enable balancing economic and environmental needs. We believe in a future where carbon is seen as an opportunity not a liability. Indeed, carbon is this generation's ‘final frontier'!"

United LAX Biofuel Initiative scooped the WBM award for excellence in advanced biofuels. "United, along with our partners AltAir Fuels, Honeywell UOP, World Fuel Services and Los Angeles World Airports, are honored to accept the award for excellence in advanced biofuels," said Mihir Thakkar, Director of Environmental Strategy & Sustainability at United Airlines. "United's agreement with Alt-air is a first for the airline industry and we're excited to introduce this renewable aviation biofuel on select flights from Los Angeles Airport this year."

Elevance Renewable Sciences took the final award of the night for the bio-based product innovation of the year with its Elevance Clean 1200 product. "Elevance is honoured that World Bio Markets has chosen to recognise Elevance Clean 1200 with the bio-based product innovation of the year award," said Andy Shafer, Executive Vice President, Sales & Market Development at Elevance Renewable Sciences. "Elevance Clean 1200 represents another of our innovative products that has been designed to deliver performance never before available with a smaller environmental footprint. Awards like the bio-based product innovation of the year enhance awareness of the advances that are transforming the industry today. Elevance is pleased to be recognised as a leader in this transformation."

The annual Bio Business Awards, now in their seventh year, are designed to reward exciting and new innovations as well as tenacity in leadership in the development of truly sustainable and renewable fuel and chemical solutions.

This year's awards, judged by an elite panel of respected global industry experts, brought to a close the first day of the 2015 World Bio Markets event. The conference and exhibition, which takes place across three days, has once again provided a platform for the leaders in global biofuels to come together, share best practices and showcase key innovations within this growing and changing industry.