SBIR Phase I: A novel biodegradable biopolymer from waste methane gas

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will use waste methane gas (biogas) as a feedstock to produce pellets of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), a valuable polymer that is converted into a variety of eco-friendly plastic products such as children?s toys, electronic casings, water bottles, and food packaging. The current plastics market is dominated by traditional petroleum-derived, non-biodegradable, energy-intensive plastics. Alternative plastics are derived from rapidly renewable biological resources (biobased) and consumed by microbes when no longer needed (biodegradable). Unfortunately, these alternative plastics are often costly and energyintensive to produce. The company has a novel, energy-efficient method to produce a biodegradable, biobased plastic at a cost competitive with petroleum-based plastics. Phase I will assess the feasibility of this novel process for full-scale commercial production using biogas from a wastewater treatment plant. The main objective is to achieve stable-operation and increased bioplastic production through optimization of parameters including biological yields, rates, and costs at the Phase I scale. This optimization will result in the production of bioplastic from waste biogas at a price competitive with petroleum-based plastics. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will ultimately be the widespread production of low-cost bioplastics from waste biogas and the eventual displacement of petroleum-based plastics. Bioplastics have the potential to capture an increasing fraction of the plastics market, thereby giving consumers the choice to purchase affordable, environmentally friendly, bioplastic-based products. When bioplastic products produced by the company are disposed in modern wastewater treatment plants or landfills, they biodegrade anaerobically (without oxygen) to methane. This methane can be cycled back and reenter the process as feedstock to produce more PHA. Thus, the life cycle may be closed, creating a ?cradle to cradle? system. This use of biogas will provide a strong economic incentive for facilities to capture their methane, rather than releasing or flaring it, which will reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and reduce corresponding impacts on global warming. The innovation will enhance scientific understanding by studying the production of bioplastic from waste biogas and by characterizing the microbial species responsible for this conversion. This project represents one of the first times that waste biogas will be used commercially to feed a community of bacteria to produce a valuable product.