Company Description
Genecis Bioindustries is a biotechnology company solving the related climate crises of organic waste and plastic pollution with one circular economy solution: PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) made from organic waste. PHA offers the same functionality as plastic, without the pollution. PHA is a biodegradable, compostable, and non-toxic alternative to traditional plastics.
How does it work?
PHA is a naturally occurring polymer, found in the cells of bacteria, that can be used as a non-toxic and biodegradable replacement to oil-based polymers. Other PHA producers use food-source/food-competing feedstocks like soy or canola, which have a land, water, and carbon footprint. Genecis uses existing food and agricultural wastes, lowering our environmental impact, valorizing waste streams, and dropping the cost of PHA production.
Our PHA is also customizable. PHA tends to be hard and brittle, making it challenging to produce PHA-based products that have flexible or amorphous characteristics. Genecis, however, can finetune the PHA comonomer ratio; PHA is a blend of butyrate and valerate, and by adjusting the percentage of each, the rigidity and flexibility of the PHA can be tuned. This allows Genecis to design PHA-based products with a wider range of applications, including: replacing single-use plastics, including packaging; clothing and textiles (with zero micro-plastic shedding); automotive interiors; medical tools and products, including sutures, grafts, and other equipment; and food contact applications.
PHA breaks down naturally in the environment without leaving behind harmful microplastics or toxic residue. Ideally, PHA products will be composted, but if they end up in a landfill or a waterway (as most products do, unfortunately), they will break down safely with no impact on the natural environment.
Our goal is to build a robust circular economy by turning organic waste into PHA, then composting PHA-based products at end-of-life so they can be upcycled into new products. The circular economy for PHA aims to create a closed-loop system where waste is minimized and resources are conserved, leading to a more sustainable and resilient economy.