Special Topic | Green Chemistry: the sustainable path to enhanced efficiency

Green chemistry aims to reduce pollution, save energy and render production more sustainable overall. Many players in Berlin are dedicated to these important goals and research, develop and produce in the field. An overview.

 

When searching for a definition of green chemistry, one finds it in the words of US scientist Professor John C. Warner, one of the founders of the concept. “It is a collection of methods for chemists, enabling them to develop compounds that are less toxic, can be produced in a more environmentally friendly and safer way, preferably from renewable resources and in the most energy-efficient manner possible, and in such a way that as little waste as possible is generated,” he said in an interview with Berlin’s Technical University (TU Berlin). Together with Paul Anastas, Warner developed twelve basic principles of green chemistry, including waste prevention, preference of catalysts, development of safe substances and reduction of energy-consumption. 

Founder of green chemistry with a facility at TU Berlin 

It is not a coincidence that Professor Warner gave an interview to TU Berlin. He is an honorary professor there, and the Chemical Invention Factory John Warner Center for Start-ups in Green Chemistry (CIF), named after him and based at the TU, will be part of the infrastructure that greenCHEM provides for the transfer of ideas, processes and products. Construction of the CIF, with an investment volume of around EUR 20 million, will begin this year. The facility will replace the INKULAB container concept and provide significantly greater capacities for transfer projects in green chemistry. This is one of many examples showing that the metropolitan region is becoming an international hotspot for deep tech innovations in the field of green chemistry. 

The goal of the greenCHEM project is the establishment of an “innovation ecosystem of European renown”. In 2022, the five initial partners (TU Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin-Chemie und Covestro), together with 24 further project partners, were able to secure funding of up to EUR 10 million over nine years from the then Federal Ministry of Education and Research. Since then, the money has been used by greenChem to support sustainable chemical innovations such as research results and initial industrial production – and to build up the chemistry-specific ecosystem. To render the transfer agile, efficient and innovative from a business perspective, innovate! lab gGmbH was founded at the beginning of the year and received EUR 5 million in funding from the Joachim Herz Foundation. Building on greenCHEM and led by Managing Director Martin Rahmel, it is intended to promote green chemistry transfer in Berlin with the goal of creating an international model hub. 

In an interview with HealthCapital, Martin Rahmel, Chemical Invention Factory (CIF) Managing Director and Coordinator greenCHEM, explained, “What makes our network special is that the diversity of our partners enables us to provide infrastructure throughout the entire process. From the initial idea to production – everything is covered by the greenCHEM network.” For example, spin-offs and transfer teams from the field of green chemistry have access to laboratory containers (INKULAB) and the Scale-Up-Lab of FU Berlin, including technical support. 

On top of this research push logic, in which research is conducted with a view to the market, greenCHEM also specifically integrates the complementary industry pull logic. Here, very specific, material sustainability challenges from industry become the starting point for innovation activities, i.e., the development of technical solutions from green chemistry. The conviction behind this is that innovations arise precisely from the combination of these logics. 

TU graduate with two green chemistry start-ups 

TU graduate Sonja Jost has proceeded well beyond the start-up phase, having already founded her second company in the field of green chemistry. The industrial engineer, who specializes in technical chemistry, has developed a process in which catalysts can be used in water and other green solvents, making them easy to recycle. Based on this innovation, she founded the company DexLeChem with three partners in 2013. This was followed in 2019 by the foundation of DudeChem, an enterprise that supports pharmaceutic companies in optimizing their production processes and save costs with the help of green chemistry and new process recipes. 

Gießen-based Green Elephant Biotech, which also has a subsidiary in Berlin, also focuses on the pharmaceutical industry. The company develops cell cultivation systems, such as CellScrew, which are manufactured from the biopolymer polylactide using 3D printing. Compared to conventional methods, this requires up to 90 percent less CO2 and, owing to a large growth surface, reduces manufacturing costs for therapeutics.  

Companies with solutions for the agricultural sector and consumers 

The customers of ABiTEP originate from the agricultural sector and the food industry. Based in the science and business hub of Berlin-Adlershof, the company has been offering biological alternatives to conventional chemical-synthetic pesticides, fertilizers and animal feed for decades. Its portfolio also includes microbial products for composting and biological cleaning. 

Berlin-based company PolyAn, which produces functionalized consumables for life sciences applications, has also been in the market for quite some time now – 28 years to be precise. PolyAn's portfolio includes surface-functionalized materials for in vitro diagnostics and life sciences research. In the context of the greenCHEM project, PolyAn and FU Berlin jointly work on innovative sensor materials based on renewable resources. 

Berlin-based start-up Cambrium focuses on the use of new bio-based materials. The first official product from Cambrium is NovaCollTM, a micromolecular collagen identical to that found in the skin, which does not require animal tissue for its production. The first skin care product containing this innovative collagen is already on the market. 

And the pipeline of innovative start-ups in the field of green chemistry shows no signs of running dry. On the contrary, Porelio and Nanolope, two promising new additions from the greenCHEM ecosystem, are enriching the start-up landscape. Porelio is developing novel filter technologies that remove so-called forever chemicals (e.g., PFAS) from water, thereby making an important contribution to the safe supply of drinking water. Nanolope offers revolutionary heat storage technology that not only makes hot water storage tanks more efficient, but can also serve as energy storage for photovoltaic systems and contribute to the insulation of buildings. 

Several laboratory centers for researchers 

In order to further advance university research in the field of green chemistry, the research team led by Professor Rainer Haag from the Institute of Chemistry and Biochemistry at FU Berlin, recently moved into its own research facilities at FUHUB, which ist part of the which is part of the development project Zukunftsort Berlin-Südwest. Haag is part of the steering committee for the greenChem project and conducts research into sustainable solutions for handling waste materials and closing raw material cycles, among other things. The new Scale-Up-Lab makes it possible to test new technologies on a larger scale and produce greater volumes. Corresponding chemical plants on a scale of 10 to 100 liters are available for use. 

BasCat (UniCat BASF JointLab) at TU Berlin also offers excellent working conditions for researchers. Its partners include BASF and the Fritz Haber Institute of the Max Planck Society. Among other things, the laboratories conduct research into catalysts, which are considered a key tool for the transition to green chemistry. 

Biotechnology as an important building block 

Biotechnology is another key to more sustainable processes in the chemical industry. It can help to produce more environmentally friendly raw materials and, in combination with chemical processes, make the production of materials more sustainable overall. To foster knowledge and data transfer in biotechnology, the BioBlock project started in January of 2025. The project’s management team consists of TU Berlin, the Institute for Applied Blockchain (IABC), Siemens as well as pharmaceutical and laboratory supplier Sartorius. Among other things, BioBlock is to integrate fragmented data and increase data security with the use of blockchain technology. The data provided should then increase efficiency in research and development in the biotechnology industry and help master regulatory challenges. The consortium of over 25 leading universities, research institutions and companies will receive EUR 5 million from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research for this purpose from January 2025 to December 2028. 

Sustainability services for Berlin-based facilities 

In order to specifically promote ecological transformation in Berlin-based companies, Berlin Partner supports businesses with a comprehensive sustainability service. At the center of this Sustainability Service by Berlin Partner is the coordination office KEK, the Koordinierungsstelle für Kreislaufwirtschaft, Energieeffizienz und Klimaschutz, which provides information, networking and practical consulting for businesses. Since March, in addition to advice on the topics energy efficiency and climate protection, the KEK has also been offering support in the field of the circular economy. Its goals in this are the conservation of resources, the design of products that are suitable for recycling, the extension of life cycles and the minimization of waste. Companies can benefit from subsidized services, among them basic consulting to identify suitable subsidy programs, detailed on-site consulting to identify potentials for optimization and individual workshops on specific sustainability topics. 

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