Covestro leans into industrial biotech with help from the German government

Covestro is expanding in biotechnology as part of a company-wide push toward circular and biobased plastics. The German government will fund an enzymatic catalysis research group at Covestro’s headquarters in Leverkusen with $2.6 million over 5 years. The group will use enzymes to recycle plastics, treat wastewater generated during the production of plastics, and aid plastics biodegradation. In a related project also receiving German funding, Covestro is scaling up its biomass fermentation route to aniline, a polyurethane precursor that is currently made from petroleum.