Overview
Genecis Bioindustries (Toronto) has engineered a bacteria that breaks down food waste to make cheaper bioplastics.
What they’re doing: Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers that are ideal substitutes for petroleum-based plastics but are too expensive to produce. Genecis is working to improve the performance of bacterial strains used on low-value organic waste to produce cost competitive PHAs.
How will this be used in the real world? Genecis’ engineered strain that produces PHAs has dramatically reduced the cost of making bioplastics by using a zero-cost feedstock, rather than expensive carbon sources.