Yield10 Bioscience is an agricultural bioscience company based in Woburn, Massachusetts. The company’s chief scientific officer, Dr. Kristi Snell, recently presented a speech at the 2021 Synthetic Bioengineering, Evolution and Design (SEED) Conference held on June 18th. Snell described how researchers at Yield10 used microbial genes to program plant-based materials based on their new technology patents. Camelina seeds produced by this new technology contain high content of PHA (polyhydroxyalkyl ester) bioplastics, which are suitable for field production.
Yield10 Bioscience (formerly Metabolix) has a long history in the development of PHA materials. Metabolix was established in 1992. In 2007, when Metabolix promised to produce 50,000 tons of PHA annually from its bioplastics plant in Iowa, its partners with Archer-Daniels-Midland (ADM) had high expectations for success. But that cooperation failed. Metabolix company changed its name to Yield10, and is committed to using camelina seeds to develop PHA bioplastics.
In 2020, the company planted several camelina strains in small plots in field trials in the United States and Canada. Yield10 explained that, compared with control (other) plants, the emergence and maturity of the engineered PHA Camelina line are relatively late, but once established, its branching, flowering and seed setting rates are better. According to the tested plant strains, the level of PHA produced in seeds is as high as 6% of the weight of mature seeds, which proves the proof of concept for the production of PHA in Camelina using the new technology.
Camelina seeds
Snell said: "These results mark an important step in the commercial production of PHA in the factory, making this exciting biodegradable plastic available for low-cost, large-scale agricultural production (yes),this establishes a connection with the 350 million tons of disposable packaging in the global plastics market every year. "."We are continuing to work hard to improve technology to increase the level of PHA to the range of 10-20%, and continue to expand the scale of camelina seeds in the 2021 and 2022 growing seasons to produce large amounts of PHA, oil and powdered product."
Yield10 believes that PHAs are natural polymers, which are ubiquitous in nature and are completely biodegradable in the environment. At present, PHA polymer is produced by the fermentation of engineered microorganisms. As a bioplastic, it replaces petroleum resin in water treatment and plays a role as a zero-waste solution in nitrate pollution and animal feed ingredients.
Yield10 has confirmed its research history and technology on PHA bioplastics, and believes that the direct production of PHA as a by-product of seeds together with oil and protein powder will enable low-cost large-scale production of bulk commodities. By eliminating raw material inefficiencies, capital and operating costs inherent in the fermentation process, the direct production of camelina seeds has the potential to commercialize PHA bioplastics on an agricultural scale at the same cost as commercial vegetable oil. The company said that this process will ultimately support Yield10's vision to promote mass adoption in the plastics market and produce a series of fully biodegradable consumer products.
Canola oil is another raw material for the production of PHA through fermentation. Cargill announced in April this year that it plans to break ground to build a new canola oil processing facility in Regina, Saskatchewan. To support the growing global demand for rapeseed oil products. The company expects to begin construction of this $350 million project early next year and plans to put it into operation in early 2024. The design of the plant is similar to Cargill’s existing Camrose facility in Alberta. The company will also update and modernize its rapeseed facilities in Camrose and Clavet, Saskatchewan in the next 12 months. Increase production and expand capacity. The new and state-of-the-art facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 1 million metric tons and will provide farmers and end users with continuous and rapid supply.
Danimer Scientific uses rapeseed oil in its Winchester, KY, and PHA processing facilities. Earlier this year, Spruce Point Capital Management released a research report on the company, stating that one of the obstacles to commercialization is that the price of rapeseed oil makes PHA too expensive.
With Cargill's investment in rapeseed oil processing plants, the company should achieve greater production, which should result in lower prices for end users, especially those companies seeking to commercialize PHA.
Although the commercialization of PHA continues to work on scale, and can even replace traditional polymers in disposable packaging applications, this material seems to be still in the early stages of production. As Michael Tolinski and Conor P. Carlin said in their recent book "Plastics and Sustainability-Gray is the New Green: Exploring the Nuances and Complexities of Modern Plastics", "...PHA production costs limit its widespread use. At least this is the current situation.
