Overview
Currently, nylon is made from petroleum. While the process works well, it is not environmentally friendly or sustainable. Therefore, there is strong demand for nylon produced from renewable resources, which requires less energy and results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions. Visolis is developing processes to manufacture renewable polymer such as nylon. Dr. Radhakrishnan Mahadevan from BioZone at the University of Toronto is using a genomics-driven bioengineering approach to convert sugars derived from forestry or agricultural feedstocks into value-added industrial chemicals such as adipic acid. Adipic acid alone has a market of 2.2 million tonnes; chemicals that can be derived from it have similarly large markets. As an industrial biotechnology company, Visolis is positioned to apply the results from this research program to the development of next generation chemicals. The results of its work will benefit Canada’s economy by growing the biorefining industry and creating new manufacturing jobs, while protecting the environment through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.