A 1.5 million Canadian dollars (814,000 pounds) Canada-UK project will harness yeast and bacterial fermentation to produce renewable alternatives to traditional plastics for packaging, personal care, health and consumer goods.
Renaissance BioScience, a company operating in the bioengineered yeast sector for the agriculture, food, environmental and energy industries, has initiated a collaboration with UK-based Biome Bioplastics for a two-year initiative valued at 1.5 million Canedian dollars (814,000 pounds) aimed at innovation in the sustainable and renewable production of building blocks for bioplastics through advanced fermentation processes. The project will target applications in packaging, personal care, health and consumer goods, offering sustainable, high-performance alternatives to conventional petroleum-based plastics.
The partnership is supported by advisory services and funding from the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program (NRC IRAP) and Innovate UK from UK Research and Innovation. This bilateral support will provide resources to advance the project and deliver significant environmental benefits for both countries.
Throughout the project, the partners will develop a sustainable system to produce a bio-based and renewable building block for bioplastics, eliminating the need for petroleum-derived materials. The work will include genetic engineering of microbial strains and fermentation trials in Canada and the United Kingdom, with resulting process optimisations and production of packaging. The goal is to establish a reliable, scalable and economically advantageous pathway for producing renewable plastics that reduces dependence on fossil fuels, minimises waste and meets performance expectations for everyday products.
This joint project between Renaissance and Biome will help strengthen Canada and the UK's leadership positions in the sustainable chemicals market.
Paul Mines, CEO of Biome Bioplastics, commented:
This transatlantic collaboration combines Renaissance's expertise in microbial engineering with Biome's capabilities in engineering biology together with experience in the development and scale-up of sustainable materials. This collaboration unites biology and materials science to accelerate the transition towards bioplastics produced from renewable sources.
