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Reduction of plastic waste by providing an alternative pathway for biodegradable plastic
Addressing simultaneous challenges of global plastic waste, along with the side streams produced by breweries and distilleries through the production of a biodegradable plastic, generated using the waste from breweries and distilleries
At Grain-4-Lab, they work to replace single use lab equipment with bioplastics. Bioplastics are plastics produced from renewable biological sources. One major advantage of bioplastics is the time they take to break down. Depending on the type produced, bioplastics can take 3-6 months to degrade whereas regular plastics take several hundred years. However, there are disadvantages to using these bioplastics. Currently, materials like sugar cane, corn starch and straw are used in bioplastic production. Deforestation plays a huge role in global warming. In some cases, forests are being stripped to provide room for crops. If bioplastics were to be made with raw materials such as sugar cane, more forests could be stripped to make room. Land used to grow these materials cannot be used to grow food crops. Given the huge challenge of feeding an estimated 10 billion people by 2050, it could be argued that it is unwise to grow less food than we could in order to produce plastics. The Grain-4-Lab project involves an innovative approach which capitalizes on waste from the Irish food and drinks industry as a means of replacing food crops as the raw material to make their project more sustainable. At Grain4Lab they first convert the agriculture waste to sugars followed by lactic acid (bacterial fermentation) which is followed by purification of lactic acid to polylactic acid (PLA)
The global Polylactic Acid (PLA) Bioplastic market was valued at approximately US$ 2.48 billion in 2022 and is projected to reach approximately US$ 5.46 billion by 2029, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 15.25% during the forecast period of 2022-2029
Waste reduction, reduction in carbon emission by valorization of agriculture byproducts, Bio-composting.
It promotes and supports STEM (science, technology, engineering & mathematics) education and engagement to improve awareness and understanding of the value of STEM to society and to support the STEM careers pipeline. They believe that scientific knowledge and understanding benefit the whole of society
Distillery industries, Technology providers and End users (poly lactic acid)
Distillery waste & food waste stream
2
Grain4Lab
Fermentation followed by purification
Bioplastic (PLA)
NA
Ireland
2022
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