Innovation Mission to Japan with Innovate UK

Celtic Renewables is in Japan!

We’re part of an Innovation Mission to Japan, as part of a UK delegation organised by Innovate UK’s Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP).

We’re delighted to be one of just six businesses chosen form a wide range of applicants to join the delegation and the only company from Scotland to be included.

The Innovate UK programme aims to help cutting-edge UK businesses grow and access new markets worldwide. Celtic Renewables’ green chemicals have a wide range of international applications in chemical engineering and consumer goods manufacturing. 

Celtic Renewables uses locally sourced whisky by-products and agricultural waste from local providers to produce bio-acetone, bio-ethanol and bio-butanol at its biorefinery in Grangemouth.  

These solvents have the same properties as their fossil fuel-based equivalents and are sustainable alternatives that can be used in the same products.  

They cut by 65 percent the carbon footprint of thousands of household goods, from cleaning products to cosmetics, with a minimal impact on the manufacturing process and without consumers needing to change their buying habits.  

This month’s visit comes as part of an ongoing relationship between Scotland and Japan’s industrial sectors. Last year, in September 2024, Celtic Renewables welcomed over 20 delegates from a wide variety of Japanese chemical and engineering businesses to its facility. 

This visit is the first step in the firm’s growing global footprint, with further international partnerships expected later in the year. 

Innovate UK identified Japan as a prime destination for an innovation mission given its status as the world’s third-largest economy by GDP. The country is an attractive market for UK engineering, chemistry and biology companies as a result of the Japanese government’s recent decision to expand its bio-based economy to over $650 billion by 2030. Japan also serves as the gateway to the rest of the east Asia region. 

Professor Martin Tangney OBE, Founder of Celtic Renewables, said, “Scotland has a proud tradition of scientific innovation, and this visit is a chance to showcase that innovation while learning from Japan’s manufacturing expertise.  

“Japan is a global leader in rapidly scaling technology and advanced manufacturing, and the GBIP presents a prime opportunity for us to learn how to successfully scale our green chemicals and help to defossilise the wider manufacturing sector.  

“We believe international cooperation is essential to reducing fossil fuel consumption globally. Innovation missions like this visit to Japan create new business partnerships and new possibilities for innovation and growth with like-minded companies.  

“Together we can forge low-carbon, low-waste processes and supply chains for a more circular, more sustainable future.” 

Katsutoshi Takeda, Deputy Consul General of Japan in Edinburgh, added, “Celtic Renewables has hosted important delegations from Japan with the Consulate General, with the delegates learning with great interest about the company’s pioneering and innovative alternative solutions. I hope that Celtic Renewables’ participation in the innovation mission will help it build on its relationship with Japan, furthering Scotland and Japan’s strong co-operation on sustainability.” 

A spokesperson from Innovate UK concluded, “Engineering biology is a transformative, cross-sector technology with the potential to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges. It is also recognised as a frontier technology in the UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy.  

“By supporting innovative companies like Celtic Renewables to Japan through the Department of Science Innovation and Technology funded Global Business Innovation Programme (GBIP), Innovate UK is helping UK businesses build international leadership in this field.  

“These global partnerships have the potential to drive the opening of new markets for innovative solutions and accelerate their adoption into global, commercially viable applications.”