Eco Factor: Plastic made from waste sludge of water treatment facilities.
Sacramento-based startup Micromidas has developed unique technology that allows it to take human waste and turn it into plastic. Usually wastewater treatment facilities separate the liquids from the solids in a large settling tank and the heaviest of the waste product is either incinerated or sent to a landfill. Micromidas can use the same waste and turn 50 to 70 percent of it into plastic by feeding it to their own special microbes.
The system is based on the use of genetically engineered microbes that can eat sludge and turn their body fat into a form of polymer that can be extracted to form plastic. The properties of this plastic means that it will biodegrade in environment within a year and a half depending on the fill thickness. Currently the polymer is at the pilot stage with the company operating a several-thousand-liter system that has a maximum capacity of a few kilos daily.
Via: Discovery News
