In 2019, I co-founded Envirobe, a biotech startup angled at solving the growing plastic crisis.
By 2025 20% of global oil production will be required to sustain the plastics production industry; furthermore, as most plastic is used once before being discarded, over 95% of its economic and energy value, equaling $120 billion annually, is lost in landfills and oceans. Worse yet, accumulation of these non-biodegradables in the environment and oceans damages key ecological habitats and fisheries. The type-1 plastic, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), found in items such as plastic bottles and single-use consumer packaging, accounts for ~20% of the world’s plastic production, is itself derived from petroleum-based precursors (terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol), and accounts for a large proportion of ocean plastic waste. Demand is not slowing with the outlook of total resin demand in the United States reaching 5 million US tons in 2020. Traditional recycling methodologies account for <11% of current PET supply. In addition, current recycling is unable to capture environmental/landfilled waste, is finite (with most plastics losing all value after 3-5 recycling cycles), and loses up to 30% of plastic input during processing due to issues of contamination or yield. Moving forward, plastic demand must be supplied sustainably by closing the loop on plastics production, actively remediating existing ocean plastics, and removing the need for petroleum-derived precursors.
Envirobe engineers plastic-degrading microbial machines, capable of being utilized in PET recycling. Notably, the molecular level of action of PET degradation and self-sustaining microbial populations allows us to access difficult to process mixed- and contaminated- plastic waste. Importantly, this process is contained by an Envirobe-designed membrane bioreactor. Our design allows for the continuous outflow of precursor effluent and continuous inflow of PET plastic that is so critical in processing pathways. By re-circulating PET precursors extracted from microbial plastic degradation, we reduce the input of fossil fuels into the plastics economy and are able to produce a higher quality virgin resin that surpasses recycled PET pellets generated by mechanical means.
