Imagine taking a plastic bottle that usually lasts forever and breaking it down into tiny building blocks. These blocks are then used as food for specially engineered yeast and enzymes to grow new materials. The result is a new type of plastic that looks and acts like the original but can actually disappear naturally in the environment.
Polyethylene is the most common plastic but is largely non-degradable, leading to 67% of it being landfilled or burned. Current recycling often results in inferior quality products, and high-value upcycling is currently below 1%.
Two catalytic systems for PE conversion and two biological systems (recombinant cells and engineered yeast) to transform alkanes into monomers for biodegradable polyesters.
If you are a chemical producer dealing with low-value waste streams — this project developed a catalytic route that converts PE into linear alkanes (C6-C18). This allows you to create high-value monomers for a variety of industrial applications.
If you are a packaging company dealing with the demand for sustainable materials — this project developed a way to synthesize PE-like but fully biodegradable polyesters. This enables the production of high-performance plastics that do not persist in the environment.
If you are a waste manager dealing with the fact that 67% of plastics are landfilled or burned — this project developed a zero-waste solution to reclaim value from C-C backboned plastics. This transforms a waste liability into a source of raw materials.
Based on available project data, specific cost figures for implementation are not provided.
The project aims for an industry-viable path and specifically targets scalable, flexible, and robust manufacturing processes for SMEs.
Based on available project data, there is no specific information regarding the IP or licensing terms.
The project runs from 2024-01-01 to 2027-12-31, suggesting the technology will be further developed through the end of 2027.
The process replaces traditional low-quality recycling (which only affects 12% of waste) with a catalytic upcycling route to create high-value chemicals.
The consortium is well-balanced for technology transfer, consisting of 12 partners across 8 countries. With a 25% industry ratio (3 industrial partners) and 5 SMEs, the project is structured to move research from 5 universities and 4 research centers into commercial applications, specifically targeting SME-led flexible manufacturing.
Contact Aarhus Universitet (DK) for technical specifications on the catalytic systems.
Contact SciTransfer to identify licensing opportunities for the Ru/TiH2 catalytic process.
