Plastic from…Bacteria

No, this isn’t fringe science.  This is real and is happening now, and it is the business of Genomatica, a chemical company based in San Diego, focusing on the bio manufacturing of sustainable chemicals.  In a process similar to biofuel creation, through the fermentation and manipulation of E. coli bacteria (along with sugar and water), Genomatica has developed a petroleum-free incarnation of butanediol (BDO), a versatile chemical compound common to a range of plastic products.  Noteworthy, is the company’s intent to utilize particular kinds of sugars which do not threaten the scarcity of foodstock-based sugars on world markets.  The company chose to initially focus on BDO due to the dramatically increasing cost and energy-intensive nature of its fossil-fuel based production, and because it is such a ubiquitous product within the world of plastics.

If the company can indeed develop a cost-competitive plastic from their more environmentally friendly approach, they will have proven the viability of potentially large-scale non petroleum-based manufacturing solutions.  According to Genomatica’s own brief on how the company views sustainability, “… government, academia and industry should strive to maximize resource efficiency through activities such as energy and non-renewable resource conservation, risk minimization, pollution prevention, minimization of waste at all stages of a product life-cycle, and the development of products that are durable and can be reused and recycled.”  It’s hard to beat that, so we should all keep our eyes on the work of Genomatica, for we might be seeing some great things emerge from this company in years to come.

Genomatica