Neste’s inventors nominated as finalists in the European Inventor Award 2023
Neste Corporation, News, 9 May 2023
Photo: Neste’s Annika Malm (from left), Blanka Toukoniitty, Jukka-Pekka Pasanen, Pia Bergström and Jukka Myllyoja have been nominated as finalists in the European Inventor Award. Source: European Patent Office
Innovation has been driving Neste’s growth, and it is one of the enablers of the future success of Neste. Thanks to the company’s strong investments in research and development, as well as innovation professionals equipped with abilities to explore and implement new opportunities, Neste is today a frontrunner in providing renewable solutions: Neste is the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and renewable feedstock solutions for various polymers and chemicals industry uses.
Neste’s pioneering work in the field of innovation, research and development has now been acknowledged by the European Patent Office (EPO). A group of Neste’s inventors have been nominated as finalists in the European Inventor Award 2023 for their work on “Converting waste and residues into high-quality renewable solutions”. The annual award honors individuals and teams that have come up with solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our time. The finalists have been selected from over 600 candidates by an independent international jury. The winners of the European Inventor Award 2023 will be announced on 4 July 2023.
The inventors selected to represent Neste’s innovators are Pia Bergström, Senior Specialist, Feedstock; Annika Malm, Senior Associate; Jukka Myllyoja, R&D Fellow; Jukka-Pekka Pasanen, Senior Associate; and Blanka Toukoniitty, Technical Support Lead, Feedstock growth. They have been involved in the innovation work and related patents to convert low-quality waste and residues into high-quality renewable solutions.
“It is an honor for all Neste’s inventors and the entire company to be recognized by the European innovation community. We really appreciate the European Patent Office for choosing Neste and its inventors as the finalist in the European Inventor Award 2023 in the Industry category. This acknowledgement stresses the importance of innovation and highlights our contribution to societies. The inventions regarding renewable solutions and related technologies have enabled Neste to transform from a regional oil refiner towards becoming a global leader in renewable and circular solutions,” says Lars Peter Lindfors, Executive Vice President, Innovation at Neste.
Today, around 25% of Neste’s personnel work with innovation, research, product development and engineering, and the company has been granted over 2,000 patents. One of the key milestones is the proprietary NEXBTL™ technology that allows Neste to turn a wide variety of renewable fats and oils into premium-quality renewable products. This success story has been followed by many other patents and involved hundreds of inventors.
“Intellectual property management is strategically integrated in the R&D and business operations at Neste. This helps us secure control of our core technology assets and protect our innovations. The recognition by the European Patent Office is a result of our people’s innovativeness, their persistent work and the high quality of our patent portfolio,” says Roberto Castagno, Head of IPR at Neste.
At Neste, we continue to work towards increasing the availability of renewable and recycled raw materials, while also developing technologies to diversify our current raw material portfolio further. Replacing fossil oil with renewable and recycled raw materials helps us drive our growth, reduce crude oil dependency and combat climate change.
Further information: Please contact Neste's media service, tel. +358 800 94025 / media@neste.com (weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. EET). Please subscribe to Neste’s releases at https://www.neste.com/for-media/releases-and-news/subscribe.
Read more about the European Inventor Award: https://inventoraward.epo.org
Neste in brief
Neste (NESTE, Nasdaq Helsinki) creates solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy. We refine waste, residues and innovative raw materials into renewable fuels and sustainable feedstock for plastics and other materials. We are the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel and developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. We aim at helping customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions with our renewable and circular solutions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030. Our ambition is to make the Porvoo oil refinery in Finland the most sustainable refinery in Europe by 2030. We are introducing renewable and recycled raw materials such as liquefied waste plastic as refinery raw materials. We have committed to reaching carbon-neutral production by 2035, and we will reduce the carbon emission intensity of sold products by 50% by 2040. We also have set high standards for biodiversity, human rights and supply chain. We have consistently been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and the Global 100 list of the world’s most sustainable companies. In 2022, Neste's revenue stood at EUR 25.7 billion. Read more: neste.com
