Covestro launches the Bio4PURConti (Bio-Based Continuous Production for Sustainable Polyurethane Industry) and will act as project coordinator of the EU-funded initiative. The project is looking to develop the world's first continuous production process for bio-based aniline, which is a key raw material for the plastics and chemical industry, especially MDI (methylene diphenyl diisocyanate), a core building block for polyurethanes.

Fossil-based aniline production generates around 20 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually worldwide. To reduce this carbon footprint, Covestro uses a tailored microorganism in its bio-based process, converting industrial sugars from plant-based biomass into an intermediate product through fermentation. Then chemical catalysis converts this intermediate into aniline with 100% plant-based carbon.

The Bio4PURConti project aims to take this a step further. Instead of utilising the fed-batch method, the project targets a continuous fermentation technology for the first time. By using plant-based sugars, it offers a renewable feedstock pathway, with the resulting bio-based aniline being drop-in compatible with existing polyurethane value chains. It also meets MDI specifications without requiring changes to downstream processes. The project scales from lab to 1.5 m³ semi-industrial demonstration at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (Ghent) and Covestro (Leverkusen), integrating cell recycling, real-time analytics, and downstream processing.

“Bio4PURConti is a landmark project – not just for Covestro or the aniline market, but for the entire field of industrial biotechnology,” said Dr Markus Dugal, Head of Process Technology at Covestro. “Demonstrating continuous fermentation at semi-industrial scale for a high-volume raw material like aniline will set a new benchmark for what biotech processes can achieve in the chemical industry. Biology and engineering, when combined at scale, can fundamentally reshape how we produce the materials the world depends on.”

The 10-partner consortium, spanning 7 countries, brings together leading industrial and academic organisations:

• Covestro Deutschland AG (Germany).
• Fibenol Imavere OÜ (Estonia).
• University of Stuttgart (Germany).
• Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant VZW (Belgium).
• Centre for Advisory Systems in Technology, Dortmund e.V. – ZEDO (Germany).
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology – NTNU (Norway).
• Axel'One (France).
• VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd (Finland).
• Cluster Industrial Biotechnology – CLIB (Germany).
• Asociación Española de la Innovación en el Marketing y la Inversión Sostenible – AEIMIS (Spain).

The project has a total budget of €8.4 million, with €7 million coming from EU funding, and it will run for 42 months.