Epoch Biodesign raises seed funding to scale bio-recycling capabilities for plastic

23 Jun 2022 --- Epoch Biodesign, part of Total BioDesign Company, has raised a US$11 million seed round. The proceeds will be directed toward expanding its protein design platform, constructing new R&D facilities, and further scaling bio-recycling. 

The business uses biology to “develop natural solutions to unnatural problems.” The company’s first solution – bio recycling – uses a tuneable enzymatic process to transform plastic waste into everyday chemicals.

Some 460 million metric tons of plastic are produced every year, the company highlights. Due to the complexities of plastic waste, recycling rates remain “unacceptably low.” 

As a result, creating virgin plastics is cheaper and easier. Today, most plastic produced is landfilled and burned. Thus, valuable carbon is wasted and the chemical industry continues to use high-energy, fossil-based processes to meet growing demand.

Slashing carbon emissions 
Epoch says its solution will reduce the industry’s dependence on fossil resources and lower the carbon emissions of chemical production while cleaning up plastic waste.

Epoch says its solution will reduce the industry’s dependence on fossil resources and lower the carbon emissions of chemical production while cleaning up plastic waste.“Advances in biology and computing have given us tools to solve some of our most pressing challenges. Using enzymes to unlock plastic as a new resource for our economy can dramatically reduce our reliance on fossil resources and slash carbon emissions from the chemicals industry. This technology will change how we think about waste,” says CEO Jacob Nathan.

“Hardly any plastic gets recycled today because it’s so expensive and complex compared to simply refining oil into fresh plastic,” adds Clay Dumas, general partner at Lowercarbon Capital. 

“Epoch flips this dynamic on its head by designing plastic-eating enzymes to finally make recycling profitable.”

The seed funding was led by Lowercarbon Capital. Other investors include BoxGroup, Amadeus Capital Partners, MCJ Collective, Zero Carbon capital, Voyagers Climate-Tech Fund, and The Venture Collective.

Plastic munchers
In related news, researchers at the University of Queensland, Australia, have discovered a species of worm with an appetite for PS, highlighting they could be the key to plastic recycling on a mass-scale. The common Zophobas morio “superworm” can eat through PS, thanks to a bacterial enzyme in its gut. 

Meanwhile, Swedish researchers discovered that plastic-degrading enzymes are increasing in correlation with plastic pollution in the world’s natural environment. PackagingInsights sat down with Aleksej Zelezniak, associate professor at Chalmers University, Sweden, to discuss how these discoveries could be utilized by the packaging and waste management industries to tackle pollution. 

Edited 

By Natalie Schwertheim