Meet the partners: NordicBlue ApS
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
Based in Copenhagen, NordicBlue ApS developed the project’s core concept: fully biobased, enzymatic solutions to replace fossil-based indigo and harsh reducing agents in denim dyeing. In GREENDIGO, NordicBlue leads the development of enzyme‑based processes that turn renewable raw materials into ready‑to‑use blue dye precursors for denim, and works to scale these up from the lab to industrially relevant processes in line with the EU’s Safe and Sustainable by Design framework.
NordicBlue’s role in the project is rooted in a clear technological vision. The company is working to show that enzymatic dye precursors can serve as a true drop-in replacement for petrochemical indigo in denim dyeing. The ambition is not only to create a greener chemistry, but to make it practical for mills: A solution that can work with existing dye lines while removing hazardous reducing agents, improving sustainability performance, and meeting tightening regulatory expectations without sacrificing shade, fastness, or fabric quality.
The NordicBlue team involved in GREENDIGO reflects this combination of scientific innovation, process development, and market awareness. Ditte Welner, CSO and Co-CEO, provides scientific and strategic leadership for the company’s enzyme- and dye-related research and development. She has played a central role in developing enzymatic routes to dye precursors and in shaping NordicBlue’s broader technology roadmap in denim dyeing and beyond. Line Holst Graves, CCO and Co-CEO, leads commercial strategy and communications, and is responsible for translating the project’s technical advances into clear narratives for brands, stakeholders and wider audiences. Selcuk Aslan, R&D Partnership Lead, oversees NordicBlue’s scientific and technical contributions across the consortium, helping ensure that process design, enzyme production, and dyeing trials remain coherent and on track. With a background in metabolic engineering and fermentation, he works on moving promising pathways toward efficient and scalable bioprocesses. Hani Gharabli, Technical Lead for Dyestuff Production, focuses on the practical implementation of the bioprocess, from high-throughput reaction optimisation to fermentation set-up for key enzymes, helping transfer lab-developed process parameters into future pilot-scale workflows. Mandy Hobusch, PhD student on sustainability and dye precursors, works at the interface of enzymatic process development and sustainability assessment, helping prioritise enzyme and process options based on both technical performance and environmental and socio-economic criteria.
Through GREENDIGO, NordicBlue is addressing several scientific and industrial challenges that sit at the heart of sustainable denim innovation. One is the need to improve the efficiency and robustness of multi-enzyme cascades, especially where current steps are limited by high enzyme demand or mismatched operating conditions. Another is the challenge of scale: selecting suitable hosts, optimising enzyme expression in fermenters from 1 litre to 20 litres and beyond, and developing downstream processes capable of delivering “green” dyestuffs at the volumes and costs required by the denim industry. A third challenge is proving that the new dyeing route performs under real textile conditions while remaining within planetary boundaries. That means achieving comparable shade and fastness to conventional indigo while working with the other GREENDIGO partners to show, through SSbD, life cycle assessment, and planetary-boundary approaches, that the full process is compatible with future environmental and regulatory expectations.
NordicBlue contributes to GREENDIGO as the partner that links enzyme selection, cascade design, fermentation and textile application into one coherent technological pathway. The company also brings prior work and intellectual property, as well as access to specialised dyeing pilot equipment that closely mimics industrial mills, enabling realistic testing of GREENDIGO concepts. By working with partners specialised in textile chemistry and sustainability assessment, NordicBlue expects the project to help de-risk its technology and provide the data, methods, and collaborations needed to move toward industrial demonstrations and future commercial deployment.
This role fits closely with NordicBlue’s broader sustainability ambitions. The company was founded with the explicit aim of enabling denim and textile processes that remain within planetary boundaries. GREENDIGO sits at the centre of that mission by addressing water pollution, hazardous chemicals, and resource use through processes designed in line with Safe and Sustainable by Design and absolute sustainability principles.
For NordicBlue, what makes GREENDIGO especially important is the opportunity to show that a radically different chemistry can also become a realistic industrial solution. The project is not only about inventing a new route to blue denim. It is about proving that cleaner chemistry, scalability, and competitiveness can move forward together.
