Grant: Applied Research and Development Grants - Level 1

The environmental impact of petroleum-based plastics, highlighted by plastic pollution in marine and aquatic environments, has garnered international attention, and has resulted in many jurisdictions developing policies to address this major environmental disaster. As such, the Canadian government has pledged to achieve zero plastic waste by 2025, including a ban of single-use plastics as early as 2021, reducing plastic pollution, and making companies responsible for their waste. Metagenom Bio Life Science Inc. is an innovative research company located in Waterloo, ON. Metagenom Bio provides convenient and rapid end-to-end solutions for clients' microbiome analysis needs. Their products and services include DNA extraction kits, diagnostic sequencing, bioinformatics analysis and microbiome improvement products. Their applications cover agriculture, food safety, life science and academic research. Metagenom Bio is interested in producing mixed short chain length / medium chain length polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) copolymer that can substitute for traditional plastic used in food packaging and beverage bottles using their genome engineered Pseudomonas putida strains. Through a collaborative project with Lambton College, Metagenom Bio aims to to demonstrate and refine the production of polyhydroxyalkanoate bioplastic by bacterial cell fermentation, using volatile fatty acids (VFA) representing leach bed reactor leachate, as carbon source. Biodegradable bioplastics are a solution to the Government of Canada's stated goal of reducing plastic pollution to achieve zero plastic waste. The research results of this project will provide a foundation for the further commercialization of bioplastics production from food waste, with data to support the development of a business case by Metagenom Bio for further scale up of the concept.