Bioholistic: Developing integrated bioprocesses for a holistic chemical recycling of plastics

Bioholistic aims to develop an integrated and sustainable process for valorising plastic wastes.

This will be achieved by coupling mild thermochemical and microbial/enzymatic processes for the recovery and subsequent reuse of polymeric monomers with the production of high-value microbial metabolites with niche applications.

To this end, we will develop an alkaline peroxide organosolv process for treating post-consumer waste plastics consisting of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyolefins (PO) (e.g., bottles, trays, and films).

This will enable: i) the separation of PET from PO for individual downstream processing, ii) hydrolysis of PET to terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG), and iii) partial oxidation of PO for subsequent biodegradation. Microbial cells and enzymes will depolymerise PO into monomers to valorise the PO stream.

Custom-made model PO samples with varied characteristics will be produced to determine which factors affect depolymerisation.

The hydrolysed PET stream will be valorised by recovering TPA for use as feedstock for virgin plastic production (chemical recycling), and EG for conversion to high-added value products (e.g., omega-3 fatty acids, squalene) with salt-tolerant microorganisms.

The project aims to deliver a holistic upcycling solution for the treatment of waste plastic material, supporting global efforts for sustainable plastic management while spearheading several scientific breakthroughs.