It is no longer a secret that the pollution in the oceans is threatening the future of marine life and is also creating all sorts of problems on the land. According to a recent study which was carried out by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that, the amount of plastic is likely to be more than the amount of fish in the oceans by 2050. That is why many startups are focusing on ways to come up with solutions to the problem of pollution.

Two students, Jeanny Yao, 21, and Miranda Wang, from Vancouver have been working on a project for years, say that they have found a way of ‘upcycling’ plastic pollution into ‘valuable compounds for textiles’ and ‘valuable biosurfactants for the textile industry.’

The duo do this by using ‘genetically engineered bacteria’ to chemically breakdown plastic polymers – such as polystyrene and polyethylene film – and turn it into organic compounds, which then undergo a ‘biological conversion’ into more valuable products.

The two scientists presented their findings at a recent TED talk, and have been awarded no less than five prestigious prizes from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for their findings. The pair have also won a number of entrepreneurship contests for their discovery, and secured more than $300,000 in funding.

Wang and Yao have become so successful that they are moving their company to California’s Silicon Valley to tap into a larger pool of research and development resources.

“Our technology is the first in the world that can break down plastics at a scalable industrial level,” Miranda Wang.

The aim of project BioCellection is to repurpose plastic waste into other textiles and compounds which can then be reused.

This is done by using genetically engineered bacteria which can breakdown plastic into its most basic, chemical form.

According to their website:

“BioCellection’s conversion technology involves the chemical breakdown of plastic polymers, such as polystyrene and post-consumer film, into organic compounds, followed by biological conversion into valuable products. BioCellection upcycles unrecyclable plastic waste into valuable compound rhamnolipid for textiles using genetically engineered bacteria.

It happens in a two-step process that tackles plastic pollution one plastic at a time. By coupling chemistry and synthetic biology, Biocellection creates a novel process that breaks down plastic into usable building blocks that are then turned into other valuable materials.“

The genetically modified bacteria can effectively dissolve plastic into carbon dioxide and water. They are particularly keen to develop a technique to breakdown the plastics more difficult to recycle such as polystyrene.

The scientists believe they can turn the global plastic crisis into a ‘greater opportunity’, by recycling plastic ‘beyond the oil loop’ and ‘disrupting the textiles industry.’

The duo says that their products are about two years away from becoming commercially available.

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