The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) launched a pioneering CO₂ Supercritical Encapsulation Facility (SCEF), the first of its kind on the African continent, on October 17.

This CSIR noted in a press release that the ‘state-of-the-art’ pilot-scale facility represents a major leap forward in clean, solvent-free encapsulation technologies that enable the production of high-value, bio-based ingredients for pharmaceutical, agricultural, food and cosmetic applications.

Commissioned in April by the CSIR, the facility positions South Africa at the forefront of innovation in supercritical CO₂ encapsulation – a sustainable, precision-driven alternative to conventional methods, it noted.

The facility builds on a breakthrough by the CSIR, which developed and patented a novel supercritical CO₂ encapsulation process.

Designed to protect sensitive bioactives such as probiotics, this process ensures ingredient stability through production, storage and delivery – all without harmful solvents.

The CSIR said in the release that its commercial licensing to a South African small, medium-sized and microenterprise (SMME) marked a pivotal point in translating lab-scale research into market-ready products, sparking growing interest from the nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and animal health industries.

However, scaling the technology presented a significant challenge owing to the absence of a dedicated pilot-scale facility to validate commercial readiness.

To address this gap, the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation (DSTI) awarded the CSIR R25.9-million to establish this first-of-a-kind pilot SCEF.

“Supercritical CO₂ encapsulation technology is one example of the CSIR and South Africa's contribution to sustainable development, and this is because of its environment-friendly properties and its potential to drive innovation in a responsible and sustainable manner,” said CSIR CEO Dr Thulani Dlamini during the launch.

He expressed that the facility represented a significant milestone in advancing local capability for high value bio-based product development.

By establishing this facility, Dlamini said South Africa joined a select group of nations with the infrastructure to advance solvent free, environment-friendly processing methods, adding that it opened the door for local researchers, entrepreneurs and manufacturers to test, refine and scale their innovations, accelerating the path from laboratory to market.

“It also addresses a long-standing issue of the innovation chasm that has hindered the industrialisation of supercritical CO₂-based encapsulation technologies,” he said.

The new facility will serve as a national innovation platform, providing critical capabilities to demonstrate scalability of supercritical encapsulation technologies; produce pilot-scale batches for field trials and early market testing; and offer toll-manufacturing services for industry collaborators and innovators.

Beyond industrial validation, the SCEF will support local SMMEs to develop globally competitive products, enhance market uptake and unlock new avenues for valorising indigenous knowledge and biodiversity.

Ultimately, the CSIR explained, the facility is aimed at strengthening South Africa’s bioeconomy and establishing a globally recognised footprint in sustainable high-precision encapsulation.

The SCEF pilot will initially serve the nutraceutical, cosmeceutical and animal health sectors, with a vision to expand into pharmaceutical and functional food markets in future phases.

Also speaking at the launch, DSTI director-general Dr Mlungisi Cele described the launch of this facility as an important step in South Africa's development of new high tech industries to support manufacturing, which he said remained a key priority for our economy owing to its multiplier effect.

Cele said emerging green technologies, such as synthetic biology and engineering biology, represent a transformational opportunity for design and bio-manufacturing with the potential to address a broad range of global challenges in health, climate change, the environment, sustainable agriculture, bio-based chemicals, new materials and green energy.

He added that the bio-economy approach offered opportunities to transform and revitalise economic sectors through the sustainable use of renewable biological resources, adding that there were many opportunities for socioeconomic development along the bio-manufacturing value chain, which cuts across various sectors of the economy, such as the industrial, agricultural and health sectors.

He noted, however, that there were a number of issues that must still be dealt with if the value chain's full impact is to be realised by the economy.

This includes bio-economy policy development, research and development, investing in infrastructure and developing a skilled workforce.