Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

Wastewater sludge is produced in large quantity and its safe disposal in the environment is a worldwide problem. The long-term goal of our research is to produce value-added marketable products using wastewater sludge as a raw material. On the other hand, demand for bioplastics or polyhydroxy alkanoates (PHA) has increased significantly due to environmental problems associated with conventional plastics, necessity to reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and the development of government measures to minimize the use of synthetic plastics. Therefore, the principal objective of the present research is to develop an economical process for bioplastics production using pulp and paper mill activated sludge (PPMAS) and other waste material as raw materials. In fact, we have obtained a consortium of sludge microorganisms, which accumulates PHA up to 70% w/w. The specific objectives of the present research project include isolation and identification of individual highly active strains from the consortium, process optimization studies in shake flasks and fermenters to maximize the PHA production employing the isolated strains and the standard strains as control with pre-treated or non-treated PPMAS as a raw material. The PPMAS will also be tested alone or fortified with extra carbon source (crude glycerol) to increase the PHA productivity. The successful completion of the research will: 1) provide a new process for low cost bioplastics; 2) reduce the sludge volume by 60-70 % w/w and use of crude glycerol produced during biodiesel production; and 3) minimize production of greenhouse gases through use of waste carbon, which otherwise must be disposed safely. Furthermore, this research is very timely and will aid Canadian industry to develop eco-friendly, commercially viable PHA at very competitive cost strengthening Canada's economy. 3 Ph.D, 1 PDF and a research associate will be trained on this new subject.