genecis bioindustries turns food waste into compostable plastics

genecis bioindustries is a biotech company that up-cycles organic waste into PHA biodegradable plastics. the company uses programmed bacteria that are able to digest food and turn it into biodegradable plastic granules that can be used to make compostable tableware and containers. as governments continue to ban single use plastics and plastic bags, genecis bioindustrie’s PHA plastic provides a responsible alternative to single use plastic with the same properties as oil-based plastics.

(main) image by marc newberry
(above) image by jasmin sessler

by leveraging food waste destined for landfill, genecis bioindustries has created the first cost-competitive PHA plastic available for commercial use. the advantage of PHA plastic is that it degrades completely in nature in one year and in less than ten years in a marine environment. this new material has low water permeability and high thermal-resistance. it can be blended with various petroleum plastics and can be recycled to create new composite resins.

image by dustan woodhouse

to create PHA, genecis bioindustries follows a three-step process. first, the organic waste is broken down into volatile fatty acids by a bacteria culture. the fatty acids are also added to another bacteria culture that has been specifically selected to produce PHAs in their cells. afterwards, an extraction process opens the cells, compiling and purifying the plastic. the process takes a total of seven days.

image by hadley jin

‘our PHBV plastic has equivalent properties to traditional oil based plastics, without the environmental costs,’ comments genecis bioindustries. ‘when the product reaches end of its useful life, it can be composed within a month. if it does find its way to the ocean, it degrades within a year.’