From July 14–18, 2025, we had the distinct honor of participating at the 12th World Congress of Chemical Engineering (WCCE12), held in Beijing—a landmark event that brought together over 6,000 professionals from more than 50 countries under the theme “Paradigm Shifting in Chemical Engineering for Global Challenges.”
As a Professor of Process Systems Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens, he was invited to present a dedicated talk on behalf of the FLEXIZYME project, a cutting-edge EU-funded initiative focused on the enzymatic production of fatty amines through sustainable biotechnology.
His presentation, titled “An Ex-ante LCA & SSbD Approach of the Supply Chain Design for the Enzymatic Fatty Amine Production Using the FLEXIZYME Methodology,” focused on the early-stage sustainability assessment of FLEXIZYME’s biotechnological platform. The goal was to demonstrate how advanced tools in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Life Cycle Costing (LCC), and Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) are being applied to guide decision-making from the outset of technology development.
Key insights shared during the presentation:
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Preliminary LCA and LCC results clearly show FLEXIZYME’s environmental and economic advantages over conventional waste-to-energy and nitrile-based production pathways.
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Compared to fossil-derived surfactants currently available on the market, the FLEXIZYME platform offers a tangible reduction in environmental impacts, making it highly relevant for sectors like cosmetics, detergents, and agriculture.
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The ex-ante LCA approach we apply supports the selection of optimal feedstocks, regional supply chain configurations, and process design choices—long before scaling to industrial production.
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Ongoing and future work will incorporate lab-scale experimental data, region-specific parameters, and sensitivity analysis to strengthen the sustainability roadmap toward commercialization.
Participating at the WCCE12 was a significant milestone for the FLEXIZYME project, offering international visibility and scientific recognition at a critical point in its development. Although the project remains in its early phases, the reception we received confirms the relevance of our work to the broader goals of green chemistry and sustainable process engineering.
We would like to thank the conference organizers for the opportunity to present this work and to acknowledge the contribution of our collaborators and project partners. We ook forward to continuing our efforts to develop scalable, low-impact solutions for the chemical industry.
Learn more about the conference: https://www.wcce12.com/
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