Shopping bags made using seaweed? Fish that grow in the desert? The connection between the various worlds of science creates a surprising reality. Take, for example, Biotic that strives to replace polluting fossil plastics with a biological polymer, using seaweed as feedstock and BioCastle that developed a miniature filter which enables to clean contaminated water quickly and efficiently.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
We all have pangs of conscience when taking another plastic bag at the supermarket or throwing another bottle away. Plastic, that byproduct of the oil industry which has become an integral part of modern life, is also one of the biggest threats to ecology and the environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our obsession with plastic and its high environmental toll bothered Adi Goldman, CEO and co-founder of Biotic<\/strong>. “Like many people, my partner and I are worried about the world’s future ecosystem”, Goldman says. “We founded Biotic in 2020 to address the plastic problems\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe world is full of plastic, so to tell consumers to stop using packaging or bags is a bit like scratching the floor and expecting to find sand. We articulate our objective as ‘envisioning a world where plastic is no longer a concern'”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The two initially surveyed different technologies and possible substitutes for the plastic that is currently used, such as paper, metal, glass, and bamboo. They collated the success and failures of each method and searched for a solution that wasn’t only scalable i.e., can contend with increasing quantities, but which also provides general environmental values. That’s how they arrived at seaweed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Biotic’s technology sounds simple: they extract the sugars that exist in fresh seaweed \u2013 sea lettuce seaweed is used here in Israel \u2013 and feed them into self-manufactured tanks in which a process of microbial fermentation is performed i.e., fermentation with micro-organisms. The cost of the tanks the company has constructed is a fraction of that of bioreactors commonly used in the industry. Moreover, due to the tank’s design, the energy cost has been drastically cut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The micro-organisms digest the sugar and, just as people develop fat, the micro-organisms grow a polymer inside their cell that serves as an energy bank for them. This is where Biotic enters the picture by “harvesting” the micro-organisms from the tanks and extracting the polymer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The polymer is considered “natural polyester”. This is a thermoplastic substance, a copolymer, that consists of two units, controlling the ratio between the units which sets the polymer characteristics, such as the level of rigidity or flexibility. A very low ratio creates a polymer that is suitable for rigid things such as furniture. As the ratio increases, the substance becomes more flexible until it can be used as fibers for clothes, nylon, packaging etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The beauty of this method is that because the polymer constitutes a layer of energy for bacteria and micro-organisms, it does not remain in its industrial state like plastic does, but rather, is digested in any heavy microbial environment (such as sea, trash, soil, etc.) and biodegrades. When this polymer biodegrades, it leaves no residues \u2013 no microplastics, no chemicals, nothing. It all returns to nature”, says Goldman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The polymer production process has byproducts such as proteins, fatty acids, and pigments but whatever remains unused returns to the process. Everything is biological and everything is cyclical, there is almost no waste. Moreover, these substances can also be used in the meat and animal milk industries and even for fertilizers. “In practice, almost all the biomass can be used, and nothing is thrown away”, says Goldman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n