Bioplastic production from wastewater

Wastewater treatment is an essential for maintaining a drinking water supply and preserving the health of natural watersheds. Our technology treats wastewater by upcycling waste organics into commercially valuable bioproducts. Our main product, polyhydroxyalkanoates, are microbial polyesters with similar applications to conventional plastics; however, if our bioplastics are not recycled they will biodegrade in the natural environment. We have identified palm oil mill effluent from Asia Pacific, in particular Malaysia, as an advantageous feedstock for bioplastic production. By deploying our technology into that region, we will be able to mitigate the industry’s environmental impact while creating an entirely new source of revenue to enrich the local community.

Within the MIT Challenge group, we are addressing the problem of increased and equitable production of renewable and recyclable raw materials for products and packaging. Oil palm is highly productive and can generate much higher yields compared to similar crops. However, past and current expansion of oil palm production have taken place at the expense of the natural environment. 

For the palm oil industry to survive, new practices will have to be implemented that decouple revenue generation from environmental harm. Palm oil mill effluent (POME) is a highly concentrated, acidic byproduct of palm oil production. In Malaysia alone there are more than 450 palm oil mills that generate a total of more than 50 million metric tons of POME each year. Existing treatment systems require large amounts of land and produce large quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. 

Our technology will decrease the industry's environmental impact by meeting water treatment and methane reduction standards. We will also generate new wealth from a material that would otherwise be wasted.

There are over 450 palm oil mills in Malaysia alone and an additional 800 palm oil mills in Indonesia. We plan on using palm oil mill effluent as a springboard to access other industrial and agricultural feedstocks.

In our proprietary solution, the waste feedstock is fed into a series of bioreactors where our microbes consume organic compounds and convert them into product. We harvest the microbes as they flow out of the bioreactors and extract their stored product. 

We use naturally-occuring microbes that we have isolated from the environment. To date, we have isolated over 70 bioplastic producing microbes and tested them on a variety of waste feedstocks such as municipal solids, corn ethanol thin stillage, food waste, agricultural byproducts, and palm oil mill effluent.

Our technology's innovation is in its dual value proposition: wastewater treatment and bioplastic production. High cost of production has been the primary barrier to adoption for bio-based and biodegradable plastics, especially when compared to conventional plastics. By using a waste instead of new raw materials, we can manufacture bioplastic at a cost competitive with petroleum-based plastics. Additionally, our process will consume the waste feedstock and meet water quality treatment and methane reduction standards.

Our technology uses a combination of aerobic/anaerobic bioreactors, process conditions, and selected microbes to convert organic waste into bioplastic. In addition to the core biological process, we are developing innovative technology for product extraction as well as product development.

Our solution directly results in water treatment and methane reduction when compared to the existing treatment systems. By providing a treatment technology that is also a major revenue generator, our solution is both environmentally and economically attractive. 

Our next milestone is construction and operation of a pilot program demonstrating continuous treatment of wastewater and production of bioplastic. On the wastewater treatment side, we will work with regulatory agencies and wastewater generators to show performance meeting methane reduction and water quality standards. 

There are over 450 palm oil mills in Malaysia alone and an additional 800 palm oil mills in Indonesia. Malaysia produces more than 50 million metric tons of palm oil mill effluent each year. In addition to Southeast Asia, oil palm is extensively cultivated in Africa as well as South and Central America. We plan on using palm oil mill effluent as a springboard to access industrial and agricultural feedstocks across multiple industries.

Our next step is a mobile, skidded pilot plant that we will operate on-site at a palm oil mill in Malaysia. We anticipate a six-month demonstration period will be required to show stable water treatment for regulatory agencies. We expect the first commercial-scale plant will be operational within one year of the completion of the pilot demonstration. The pilot plant will be the basis for design for modularized, commercial-scale plants that can be centrally manufactured and then deployed to remote locations. We will partner with a global engineering firm rapidly deploy commercial-scale plants.

Finding the right partner for on-site technology demonstrations could be challenging because the palm oil companies can be conservative when it comes to adopting new technologies. Additionally, fluctuations in the price of palm oil also affect the amount of capital that palm oil companies can invest in new technologies. 

We are working with government and research agencies to identify the right palm oil mill partner for our pilot demonstration. The pilot demonstration will showcase our technology to companies and industry leaders on-site at a palm oil mill over the course of several months. Additionally, we plan on having our process approved for government programs that provide tax advantages to businesses adopting new technologies. 

PHA Global is a spin out of Origin Materials, Inc. We currently have two full-time staff members dedicated to this project, but as a spin out we have access to the network and resources of a much larger company. 

We have technical expertise in biology, wastewater treatment, chemistry, and technology scale-up. As innovators, we and our parent company have start-up experience and the ability to bring an new process to market. 

We have had detailed talks with global engineering firms about our proposed pilot and commercial scale plants. We have potential off-take partners, who has done preliminary testing of our product. We have had discussions with Malaysian government agencies and prospective Malaysian business partners.

We plan on deploying our technology through either direct licensing to palm oil mills or licensing as part of a technology package provided by an engineering partner. In addition to licensing royalties, we will establish contracts to purchase crude bioplastic from our licensees. The crude bioplastic will be refined at a centralized processing facility and then resold to offtake partners. In the long-term, as we generate more bioplastic, we will expand our focus into accessing new feedstocks for production, extraction technology (refining crude product), and novel product applications which will maintain our competitive advantage.

We will do an initial investment capital raise in combination with grants to fund the pilot plant demonstration that will serve as the basis for our commercial plants. We will partner with a global engineering firm to sell or license our technology as part of a wastewater treatment technology package to the wastewater generator. In addition to licensing revenues, we will purchase crude bioplastic from the wastewater generators at a contract price, refine the bioplastic at a central location, and then sell the resulting product to offtake partners. Our company will be profitable once the first commercial plant begins operation.

Solve's can help PHA Global improve the circular economy and bring our technology to market by connecting us to relevant partners in design, product development, regulation, and environmental innovation.

In addition to technological partners, we would like to pursue partnerships with companies with expertise in licensing technology to clients, operation in developing countries, and with bringing technology training to underserved communities. 

We would utilize the prize funding to do product development on one of the several potential applications of our bioplastic. We are currently interested in two non-resin based applications for our plastic that could be readily used in the communities where the bioplastic is produced.