A partnership between the University of Bath, the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI) and ReBio Technologies Ltd is developing the use of modified strains of microorganisms to help manufacture bioplastics from organic waste products.
By feeding a variety of biomass-derived, second generation waste, such as scraps from food production or animal waste, to a modified strain of the Geobacillus bacteria, the partnership will produce D-lactic acid, which can then be used to create bio-based products.
The project intends to demonstrate that the process can be employed for lab-scale production, before then designing and demonstrating a scalable manufacturing process for industry.