Bioeconomy

HERE green innovations fall on fertile ground.

Sustainable economic activity requires the responsible use of resources - in Saxony-Anhalt, this is a reality. Around half of the electricity generated here already comes from renewable energies. Saxony-Anhalt also has extensive experience in dealing with renewable raw materials and biotechnological processes - for example as a basis for industry, energy and nutrition. As a traditional location for the food, chemical, wood/cellulose and agricultural industries, Saxony-Anhalt has extensive experience in dealing with bio-based raw materials and their potential. HERE, natural cycles are understood, bioeconomic thinking is anchored and standards for sustainable management are set.

Industrial bioeconomy

Bio-based products

Biorefineries

Research and development

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FactSheet Bioeconomy

Bioeconomy_FactSheet_EN.pdf [PDF, 109 KB]

Industrial bioeconomy

Growth from renewable raw materials.

Saxony-Anhalt is one of the pacesetters of the industrial bioeconomy in Germany. With its strong chemical industry, which has the highest employee density and unique sales productivity in eastern Germany, the state offers the best conditions for the transition to a bio-based economy. Whether basic chemicals from renewable raw materials, biopharmaceutical active ingredients or innovative bioplastics: HERE combines industrial expertise, research excellence and an active network. The industrial bioeconomy creates new value chains and paves the way for a climate-friendly future "Made in Saxony-Anhalt".

Arbeiter aus der Vogelperspektive in einer biotechnischen Anlage.
Arbeiter aus der Vogelperspektive in einer biotechnischen Anlage.

Success stories

EW Biotech - Bioeconomy on an industrial scale

EW Biotech GmbH, a subsidiary of EW Nutrition GmbH, operates a state-of-the-art multi-purpose biotech plant in Leuna. The site is a central hub for scale-up processes, contract manufacturing and research and development in the field of bio-based chemicals and additives for food and animal feed. With in-depth experience in biotechnology and fermentation, the company accompanies its partners on the path from laboratory scale to industrial production.

Link to the company

Heppe Medical Chitosan - Products for the world

As one of the most innovative companies in the field of industrial bioeconomy, Heppe Medical Chitosan GmbH develops, produces and distributes biopolymers, in particular chitin, chitosan and their derivatives for science and the medical sector at the Weinberg Campus Technology Park in Halle (Saale). The production facility produces 100 different chitosans and chitosan derivatives in high-purity and consistent quality for the global medical technology and pharmaceutical industries.

Image rights: Heppe Medical Chitosan

Link to the company

Bio-based products

Solutions from natural substances.

Saxony-Anhalt is one of the leading regions when it comes to the development of bio-based products. Whether from wood, plants, algae, oils, fats or plant-based active ingredients - marketable solutions are created here that replace fossil raw materials and establish new, sustainable value chains. Future-oriented companies such as PureRaw, VERBIO Vereinigte BioEnergie, Nordzucker and NOVO-TECH are using the diversity of natural resources for bio-based materials, fuels and food additives. In the pharmaceutical sector, players such as Salutas Pharma and mibe are focusing on plant-based active ingredients. The Anhalt University of Applied Sciences in Köthen, among others, provides scientific impetus with application-oriented research.

Success stories

Algae farm Klötze - All-rounder algae

In Klötze, Saxony-Anhalt, Algenfarm Klötze GmbH & Co KG produces microalgae for the food, animal feed and cosmetics industries in an advanced photobioreactor system. The company uses the high efficiency of algae cultivation to bring sustainable, bio-based products to the global market and has customers from Europe, Asia and America. With its advanced use of algae, the company is a good example of how Saxony-Anhalt is positioned as a leading location in the bioeconomy of tomorrow.

Image rights: Algenfarm Klötze GmbH & Co KG

link

Biorefineries

Sustainable value creation.

Saxony-Anhalt is a key player in the field of biorefineries, in which renewable raw materials are efficiently converted into valuable products such as biofuels, chemicals and bio-based materials. With well-developed infrastructure, strong research networks and specialized companies, the state offers ideal conditions for shaping the transition to a more sustainable and resource-efficient industry.

Außenansicht auf eine Bioraffenerie.
Außenansicht auf eine Bioraffenerie.

Success stories

UPM Leuna - Pioneer of the bioeconomy in Saxony-Anhalt

With the world's first biorefinery at the Leuna chemical site, the Finnish company UPM produces biochemicals from sustainably sourced hardwood. These biochemicals are used for the production of recyclable everyday objects and materials that are used in textiles, plastics, rubber, cosmetics and medicines. UPM Leuna thus reduces the consumption of fossil raw materials and lowers CO2 emissions - an important contribution to the sustainable future of the bioeconomy in Saxony-Anhalt.

Link to the company

Research and development

Clever minds create innovation.

Research and innovation have a long tradition in Saxony-Anhalt: this is where the universal genius Otto von Guericke conducted the famous hemisphere experiment in 1654. HERE the foundations of the seed breeding industry were laid 100 years ago and the first color film was developed in the 20th century. Today, Saxony-Anhalt is, among other things, a center for pilot plants in the bioeconomy, where research and technological development go hand in hand to create sustainable solutions for the future.

Blick durch eine runde Öffnung in ein Labor.
Blick durch eine runde Öffnung in ein Labor.

Center for pilot plants

Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes CBP

The Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes (CBP) in Leuna closes the gap between laboratory research and industrial implementation. By providing infrastructure and technical facilities, it supports cooperation partners from research and industry in the development and scaling up of biotechnological and chemical processes to industrial scale. With this flexible concept, raw materials such as vegetable oils, cellulose, lignocellulose, starch or sugar can be processed and converted into valuable chemical products.

Link to the CBP

Unique research density

Saxony-Anhalt has one of the densest research landscapes in Germany: the state is home to six Fraunhofer Institutes, five Leibniz Institutes, three Max Planck Institutes, two Helmholtz Centers, two universities and eight universities of applied sciences.

Strong bioeconomy research networks are growing in the state: important centers such as the Science Campus for Plant-Based Bioeconomy, the Interdisciplinary Center for Crop Plant Research and the Biodiversity Research Center iDiv have emerged from collaborations between Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and non-university institutions.

The BioEconomy cluster of excellence has further strengthened the research field in the state. Science in Magdeburg is also dedicated to bioeconomic issues - for example at the Dynamic Systems Research Center.