CABB in algae biorefinery deal

CABB has agreed a strategic partnership to establish a first-in-kind algae biorefinery at its site at Kokkola Industrial Park (KIP) in Finland, which is described as “Northern Europe’s largest ecosystem of the inorganic chemical industry”. 

This will use Origin by Ocean’s patented technology to process sargassum, an invasive brown seaweed, into high-value ingredients such as alginate, fucoidan and biomass residue. Origin by Ocean ultimately plans to build biorefineries in the Caribbean Sea, closer to where up to 40 million tonnes/year of biomass sargassum blooms, causing disruption to tourism and local industry. 

The company believes that the markets than can benefit immediately from algae-based ingredients, including cosmetics and detergents, are collectively worth $220 billion. It is already working with multinational consumer goods companies and Finnish fashion and lifestyle companies, such as Marimekko.