NOROO Holdings announced that it has been finalized as the executing institution for the project titled “Raw Material Production and Product High-Valueization Technology Development for Activating the Bio-Based Polymer Market,” hosted by the Korea Evaluation Institute of Industrial Technology (KEIT).
Securing raw materials to production
In this project, NOROO Holdings will oversee the entire process from securing raw materials to production, conducting mass-production validation of 3-HP (3-Hydroxypropionic Acid) using waste biomass. The key sub-projects are:
- Development of bio-based acrylic acid-based polymer materials
- Mass-production validation of 3-HP utilizing waste biomass
- Validation of bio-acrylic acid production based on 3-HP catalytic reactions
The project plans to focus on securing a “total value chain” from raw material production to the final product through industry-academia-research collaboration involving multiple joint research institutions.
3-HP appears on the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) list of the “Top 12 Future Bio-Based Chemicals.”
The announcement describes 3-HP as a core material that can be converted into various chemical structures, ranging from cosmetics to coatings and eco-friendly plastics. It is presented as an eco-friendly material that can replace existing petroleum-based chemical materials, and is evaluated there as one of the key materials in the “industrial biotech (white biotech)” business for the carbon-neutral era. NOROO Group frames 3-HP as a next-generation bio-platform material and positions the development work as an effort to take an early position in the industrial biotech market.
NOROO Group expects synergy effects within the group. NOROO Paint, the major affiliate, will take charge of the project “Validation of Bio-Acrylic Acid Production Based on 3-HP Catalytic Reactions.”
It will process the conversion of 3-HP into an industrial raw material and research the feasibility of replacing acrylic acid, which has previously relied entirely on petrochemical processes, with bio-based materials.
An official from the Noroo Bio Business Development Division stated, “While the industrial biotech field has previously focused primarily on research (R), this validation project signifies a full-scale advancement into the development and commercialization (D) stage, accompanied by actual pilot facility investments. We will continue to strive to expand development projects for industrial biotech materials in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) in the future.”