The Biopolymers/Biomaterials cluster brings together around 150 companies and 40 research institutions from all over Germany with the aim of developing plastics based on renewable raw materials. Various disciplines such as biotechnology, chemical engineering, polymer chemistry and plastics technology work together in the cluster.

The Biopolymers/Biomaterials cluster was one of five winners of the BioIndustry 2021 competition run by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in 2006. Between 2007 and 2012, the BMBF provided funding totalling ten million euros for the implementation of the cluster. The majority of the funding was used for seven research projects, three of which have already been completed. The four remaining projects are still ongoing.

Since the end of the funding period, our team at BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg has been responsible for coordinating the Biopolymers/Biomaterials cluster as part of our bioeconomy activities. Please contact our Bioeconomy Team for further information.

The initiative "BioIndustry 2021 - Development of new products and processes in industrial biotechnology" was launched by the BMBF in 2006 to facilitate the establishment of strategic clusters where universities, research institutions and the industry work together. The aim was to provide the basis for facilitating the transfer of ideas and research results in the field of industrial biotechnology at universities and research institutions into marketable commodities.

The Biopolymers/Biomaterials cluster has been particularly successful: fischerwerke's partially biobased wall plug and Daimler's partially biobased engine cover are just two examples of products that arose from cooperative cluster projects.