A new collaboration, UC-DC, between industry and academia aims at converting waste CO2into biodegradable plastic by gas fermentation, where bacteria transform CO2 into a feedstock for commodity chemicals used in plastic production.
“We envision a future where CO2 is transformed from a harmful greenhouse gas into an inexhaustible raw material for producing materials that our society relies upon, in this case plastics. Furthermore, we want to make sure that the solutions are feasible and implementable,” says Project Manager Line Rold Tousgaard from Danish Technological Institute.
The UC-DC project (Utilization of Carbon for Decarbonization) is a collaboration between the Danish Technological Institute, Pond, Again, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain).
Bacteria convert CO2 into useful acid
Today, the world relies on fossil-based feedstocks to produce vital chemicals for plastic production. But before long, various plastic-based products might be produced directly from CO2. That is the potential outcome of the project UC-DC, which is developing a new biotechnological process to utilize CO2 developed at Again:
“Our gas fermentation process converts CO2 and hydrogen into acetic acid in a one-step carbon capture and utilization process. By combining millennia-old bacteria with cutting edge biotechnology, this paves the way for novel CO2 derived building blocks that are currently produced from fossil feedstocks. We are excited to be part of an ambitious partnership where our technology plays an integral part in a promising future value chain,” says Torbjørn Ølshøj Jensen, CEO at Again.
Biodegradable plastics from CO2
Danish Technological Institute (DTI) will demonstrate the use of acetic acid by converting it to a chemical building block for plastic production. Finally, the company Pond will turn this building block into biodegradable polymers for use in a broad range of applications such as horticulture, packaging and textiles.
“We aim at demonstrating that it is possible to produce high performing polymer pellets that come from waste carbon feedstocks, in particular CO2. Not only will this be an interesting innovation in itself, but it will also be a promising alternative to building blocks derived from plant material,” says Thomas Brorsen Pedersen, CEO at Pond.
A new fossil-free CCU value chain
By recycling CO2 captured from thin air or a CO2-emitting industry, the solution developed in the UC-DC project is playing a vital part in creating new supply chains for utilization of CO2, or CCU.
As part of the ambition to establish a new fossil-free value chain for the production ofplastics from CO2, The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain) will evaluate and quantify the true potential of a scaled-up operation by divinginto the environmental and socio-economic aspects of the products and perform life cycle assessments, societal impact assessments, market and supply chain analyses.
“By identifying the potential barriers across this new value chain, we can focus on how to overcome them and demonstrate a feasible way from source to product. Collaboration along the value chain while being able to evaluate the work-in-progress is the real strength of this partnership,” says Line Rold Tousgaard.
The UC-DC project (Utilization of Carbon for Decarbonization) is supported by Innovation Fund Denmark.
