GELEEN, the Netherlands - News outlet Biofuels Digest gave its Chemical of the Year award to bio-succinic acid, naming producers BioAmber and Reverdia. Reverdia’s 10,000-tons-per-year commercial Biosuccinium™ plant was credited as well as its Biosuccinium licensing offering.

Biofuels Digest wrote, “The acid was the first non-fossil, feedstock-derived chemical building block that allows customers in the chemical industry to choose a biobased alternative with a lower eco-footprint for a broad range of applications, from packaging to footwear.”

Reverdia President Marcel Lubben commented, “Biofuels Digest’s recognition of bio-succinic acid shows just how buoyant the market is right now. By licensing our commercially proven and patented low-pH yeast technology, industry players can get access to our winning technology to produce biobased materials or to unlock alternative applications in the most economic way.”

Reverdia is a joint venture between Royal DSM N.V., a life sciences and materials sciences company headquartered in the Netherlands, and Roquette Frères, a starch and starch-derivatives company headquartered in France. The joint venture was created for the production, commercialization and market development of Biosuccinium.

BioAmber is an industrial biotechnology company producing sustainable chemicals. Its proprietary technology platform combines industrial biotechnology and chemical catalysis to convert renewable feedstock into sustainable chemicals for use in a wide variety of everyday products.