Government science company Forest Research is pioneering a new generation of technologies to create "biomaterials" from industrial crops and waste streams.
In its annual report to the Government, the Crown research unit said wood and wood products would remain the largest biomaterial, but the new strategy required a significant "refocusing"
of scientific resources.
It envisages using renewable materials and products from plants to make plastics, cosmetics, medicines, vaccines, speciality chemicals and fuels from trees and other plants.
It is reorganising most of its 375 staff into four new science platforms and six business units.
"This new strategy builds on Forest Research's traditional expertise in growing plantation timber and processing it into useful products," said chief executive Bryce Heard.
"The new strategic direction has helped to rejuvenate the organisation and give it a sense of purpose."
Forest Research would use Government funding as well as venture capital for technology advances in the biomaterials field, targeted to a growing consumer demand for renewable and biodegradable products.
Declines in traditional revenue sources had caused Forest Research to investigate likely technological responses to changing market and consumer needs.
Auckland University Professor Wayne Cartwright had tracked global trends, including a long-term shift from making materials and fuels out of non-renewable minerals towards new materials and energy sources based on renewable plants and bacteria.
The overwhelming conclusion was that a global shift from the hydrocarbon economy towards a carbohydrate economy meant biomaterials - non-food materials based on plants - would become a major influence in manufacturing over the next decade.
"The world needs, and is beginning to demand, new high-performance materials based on renewable plant sources," Mr Heard said .
This trend was being driven by growing restrictions on fossil fuels, and increased environmental concerns around waste.
Petrochemicals were used as a basis for modern synthetics, but plants could provide a renewable source of chemical "building blocks" for almost all materials.
"We foresee huge opportunities for this country in biomaterial development."
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Conservation and Environment
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