Abstract Authors
Marthinus W. Myburgh
Waste to Bioproducts-Lab, Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), Padova University, Agripolis, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Urobo Biotech, 15 De Beer Street, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
Dominique F. Rocher
Waste to Bioproducts-Lab, Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), Padova University, Agripolis, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Urobo Biotech, 15 De Beer Street, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
Leonardo Faggian
Waste to Bioproducts-Lab, Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), Padova University, Agripolis, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy
Daniele Vezzini
Waste to Bioproducts-Lab, Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), Padova University, Agripolis, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Hannah Foster
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Alessandro Calzavara
Department of Industrial Engineering, Padova University, v. Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy
Lara Facchini
Department of Industrial Engineering, Padova University, v. Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy
Alessandra Lorenzetti
Department of Industrial Engineering, Padova University, v. Marzolo 9, 35131 Padova, Italy
Marinda Viljoen-Bloom
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Urobo Biotech, 15 De Beer Street, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
Lorenzo Favaro
Waste to Bioproducts-Lab, Department of Agronomy Food Natural resources Animals and Environment (DAFNAE), Padova University, Agripolis, Viale dell’Università 16, 35020 Legnaro, Padova, Italy
Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa
Urobo Biotech, 15 De Beer Street, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa
Abstract Description
As global plastic production surges past 400 million tonnes annually, current end-of-life strategies for plastic waste fall short in addressing environmental and economic challenges - especially for mixed and contaminated streams. Biodegradable bioplastics offer a promising alternative, yet current organic waste processing infrastructure is not able to process these materials effectively resulting in the landfill and incineration of bioplastic-rich waste streams. We present an enzymatic hydrolysis approach for depolymerizing bioplastics at end-of-life, specifically in waste streams containing high organic matter. We have moved from the hydrolysis of neat bioplastic polymers to blends, commercial products and bioplastic-rich post-consumer waste found at organic waste recycling plants in Italy.
Our method leverages a cocktail of recombinant and engineered cutinases, together with auxiliary enzymes, with broad substrate specificity and high catalytic efficiency. The resulting hydrolysate can be converted to platform chemicals such as lactic acid or green fuels such as biogas. This presentation will cover our group’s work on developing our enzymatic processes, the techno-economic potential thereof as well as future plans for sustainable end-of-life solutions of bioplastic-rich heterogeneous waste streams.
