Origin by Ocean, a Finnish green chemicals company, has formed a strategic partnership with the CABB Group to establish a biorefinery at CABB’s production site in Kokkola, Finland. This new facility will be the first to utilize Origin by Ocean’s biorefinery technology to extract valuable chemicals from sargassum, an invasive brown algae. Scheduled to begin operations in 2028, the biorefinery will process sargassum into ingredients such as alginate, fucoidan, and biomass residue, which are used in industries including cosmetics, food, and pharmaceuticals.
“For change to be possible at a large scale, we need to reimagine the value chains”
Sargassum, a seaweed driven by agricultural runoff and rising ocean temperatures, has caused significant environmental and economic disruption in coastal regions, particularly in the Caribbean and West Africa. The algal blooms not only impact local ecosystems but also affect local economies. For example, the cleanup of sargassum from beaches in Jamaica costs an estimated $120 million annually. With blooms growing in severity, solutions to manage and utilize this biomass are increasingly important.
A fossil-free future
The new biorefinery offers a way to address this environmental issue while providing sustainable alternatives to fossil-based chemicals used in consumer products. In a press statement, Mari Granström, CEO and founder of Origin by Ocean, stated, “Our fossil-based world is broken. For change to be possible at a large scale, we need to reimagine the value chains of the products that we use every day in our lives.”
Reimagining global value chains
The biorefinery will be located in Northern Europe’s largest industrial hub for inorganic chemicals, the Kokkola Industrial Park (KIP), which provides the infrastructure necessary for large-scale production. Origin by Ocean plans to expand its biorefinery network globally, with a focus on regions where sargassum blooms are most prevalent. Granström further noted that the company is looking for partners to help scale the production and adoption of algae-based ingredients, which could address a market worth approximately $220 billion.
CABB Group, known for its expertise in fine chemicals, will operate the biorefinery under a Manufacturing as a Service (MaaS) arrangement. “CABB is excited to partner with Origin by Ocean and the opportunity to advance our sustainability agenda as well as our growth strategy in Life Science,” said Ari Venninen, managing director of CABB Oy in Finland.
The partnership also has the potential to influence other industries. Origin by Ocean is working with a range of multinational consumer goods companies, as well as fashion and lifestyle brands such as Marimekko, to integrate these sustainable ingredients into their products. As the biorefinery progresses, additional facilities are expected to be developed in regions heavily impacted by sargassum, offering a global solution to both a pressing environmental problem and the demand for sustainable ingredients in various industries.
