Giving enzymes a second life: ChiralVision’s role in turning waste into industrial materials

A new video on the POLYMERS-5B LinkedIn profile features ChiralVision, the Dutch company specialised in enzyme immobilisation and biocatalytic process development, and its role in bringing the project’s bio-based materials closer to industrial use.

The enzyme reuse problem

In the video, Hessel, a scientist at ChiralVision, starts from a well-known paradox in biocatalysis: enzymes are extremely efficient catalysts, yet they are often hard and costly to recover once a reaction is complete. In many processes they are used once and lost.

ChiralVision tackles this by immobilising enzymes on solid carrier materials. Anchored to a support, the enzyme can be separated from the reaction mixture and reused across multiple cycles, with improved stability and a more efficient process overall.

New carriers from natural and recycled sources

Within POLYMERS-5B, the team is investigating natural and recycled materials as a new generation of enzyme carriers, replacing conventional supports with more sustainable alternatives. In parallel, ChiralVision is developing functional resins for applications such as water treatment and metal recovery, where selective, robust materials can turn waste streams into recoverable resources.

From lab results to commercial relevance

ChiralVision’s position in the project is to link the bio-based materials developed by the consortium with concrete, high-value industrial applications. That means developing and testing the materials, protecting promising formulations and process know-how, and translating the best results into scalable prototypes and production processes.

For ChiralVision, success means validated bio-based carrier and resin technologies ready to progress towards commercial products in enzyme technology, water treatment, resource recovery and other industrial sectors.

Real value from renewable waste

What Hessel finds most compelling about POLYMERS-5B is the chance to transform renewable waste streams into materials that deliver measurable industrial value, not just sustainable credentials.

 Watch the full video on the POLYMERS-5B LinkedIn page.