Page 54 - Plastics News October 2023

TECHNOLOGY

Tackling plastic waste with AI and enzymes
sustainable and cleaner future.”
In close collaboration with two ABF
consortium members - the Na-
tional Renewable Energy Labora-
tory (NREL) and Oak Ridge National
Laboratory (ORNL) - the company
will use AI and machine learning-en-
hanced search and optimisation to ac-
celerate the development and design
of new classes of enzymes to break
down plastic. “We aim to support
bio manufacturing partnerships that
enable sustainable industrial produc-
tion of renewable fuels and chemicals
rotein Evolution embarks on two ing blocks of new polyester, explained for the nation,” said Gregg Beckham,
Pnew collaborative projects Maren Wehrs, director of bioprocess NREL lead at the ABF.

Protein Evolution, a young biotech development of Protein Evolution. The next step is to accelerate the de-
company that utilises biological pro- Entering into partnerships offers the velopment and readiness of new, af-
cesses to promote the transition to a fledgling company a way de-risk the fordable enzymes for manufacturing,
lower-carbon, circular economy for R&D process by providing access to to facilitate a smooth transition transi-
materials and plastics, has announced ‘cutting-edge research, infrastructure, tioning from proof of concept to full-
the launch of two new projects. and a wealth of domain expertise’ scale production.
to help accelerate sustainable waste
The first will build on the company’s management and the global transition In the collaboration with JBEI, the
artificial intelligence expertise to cre- to a lower-carbon, circular economy, science and technology to transform
ate enzymes that break down plas- she added. The technology developed bioenergy crops into eco-friendly
tic and textile waste; the second will by Protein Evolution is the first in the products will be developed by JBEI,
streamline the methods for manufac- U.S. to use enzymes as a catalyst to while Protein Evolution pioneers in
turing those enzymes at scale. successfully produce new polyethyl- recycling plastics to generate high-

The projects are a collaborative ef- ene terephthalate (PET) from polyes- quality monomers, according to Blake
fort: the company is partnering with ter textile waste. It yields a PET mate- Simmons, CSTO of JBEI.
the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ag- rials that is indistinguishable from the In later stages of the project, ABPDU
ile BioFoundry (ABF), the Advanced petroleum-derived virgin alternative, will offer expertise in scalable fermen-
Biofuels and Bioproducts Process but with a far lower carbon footprint. tation and protein separation proce-
Development Unit (ABPDU), and "Identifying and cost-effectively pro- dures.
the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI), ducing highly catalytic enzymes to
a DOE Bioenergy Research Center, transform waste into new products “Our capabilities will allow us to test
both led by Lawrence Berkeley Na- has the potential to significantly reduce large-scale production processes that
tional Laboratory. All three are part of industry's reliance on petroleum," said will benefit Protein Evolution’s future
Berkeley Lab’s BioManufactory group Jay Konieczka, Protein Evolution’s scale-up plans,” said Deepti Tanjore,
director of ABPDU. “We are hope-
of programmes. CTO. "At scale, our technology will ful that this partnership will make a
Protein Evolution has developed a divert millions of waste products from major impact on how plastic waste
process that uses AI to design novel landfills and the environment, helping is handled and new plastic material is
enzymes to transform various types to reduce pollution, conserve natural produced in the future.”
of polyester waste back into the build- resources, and contribute to a more

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