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Feeding bacteria seaweed to make compostable plastic

Bioprocess engineer Jesús E. Rodríguez’s team dreams of replacing all synthetic plastics with biodegradable products.
By
  1. Patricia Maia Noronha

    1. Patricia Maia Noronha is a freelance writer in Lisbon, Portugal.

Jesús Rodríguez, Bioprocess Engineer at Uluu, Australian start-up replacing plastics with natural polymers.

Jesús E. Rodríguez is a bioprocess engineer at ULUU in Watermans Bay, Australia. Credit: Giacomo d’Orlando for Nature

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My team and I make bioplastics from simple renewable ingredients: saltwater microbes, seaweed and seawater. The seaweed provides a carbon source for fermentation, similar to how beer is made by fermenting hops. The saltwater microbes naturally produce polymers called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) that could replace many, maybe even all, synthetic plastics. And these PHAs are biodegradable, even in cold, dark conditions such as the deep ocean. Unlike other bioplastics, this material will also compost on its own in household waste.

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Nature 620, 460 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02499-4

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