Ranah Chavoshi, co-founder and CEO of PhyCo Technologies Inc., is devising a way to reduce plastic pollution by creating a seaweed bioplastic.Ethan Cairns
Plastic pollution is a major global problem but what if plastic could be made differently – from ingredients so abundant, natural and earth-digestible that it could benefit the environment and communities where it’s made?
Vancouver-based startup PhyCo Technologies Inc. has developed a bioplastic made from seaweed that mimics the good qualities of conventional, petroleum-based plastic and none of its polluting attributes.
PhyCo’s seaweed plastic uses less energy to manufacture and it’s home-compostable, says Ranah Chavoshi, the company’s co-founder and CEO. It will also completely biodegrade on land or in water – enriching those environments in the process rather than leaving behind harmful microplastics.
PhyCo’s coastal First Nations partners will harvest the seaweed – focusing on an invasive species that is multiplying at an alarming rate – then process and manufacture it.
The production will provide a revenue source and jobs as well as environmentally friendly bioplastic products for use in their communities. (This solution could be replicated in other areas where the same exploding Sargassum seaweed has become a significant economic issue, such as in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean.)
The end goal is to stop petroleum-based plastics from being used in agriculture, which results in microplastics in our food.
— Ranah Chavoshi, co-founder and CEO, PhyCo Technologies Inc.
Ms. Chavoshi, a Master of Science candidate at Simon Fraser University, launched her startup in 2022. As her small team discovered that seaweed polymers could be mixed with PhyCo’s proprietary blend of all-natural additives to form a compostable bioplastic, Ms. Chavoshi sought to create “a better company,” one that prioritized “equitable procurement” of seaweed.
“How do we manufacture this in a way that benefits the coastal communities that are most impacted by [plastic pollution]? In Canada, that’s often Indigenous communities,” says Ms. Chavoshi.
“Our relationship with First Nations is fundamental to what we do,” she adds. “The whole point is to uplift communities on the coast.”
PhyCo’s bioplastic prototypes are being tested in the agricultural sector, where the use of fossil fuel-based plastics is ubiquitous: applications include mulch film, seedling trays, storage bins and more.
“The end goal is to stop petroleum-based plastics from being used in agriculture, which results in microplastics in our food,” says Ms. Chavoshi.
“We want to produce a plastic solution that benefits our agricultural system as opposed to working against it.”
Leftover pasta: tomorrow’s plastic
Plastic pollution produces greenhouse emissions during its lifecycle, from production to recycling to incineration. When leaked into the environment, it chokes marine wildlife, damages soil and poisons groundwater.iStock
In Toronto, Genecis Bioindustries envisions a future without plastic pollution. The seven-year-old company uses food scraps to produce a fully biodegradable bioplastic.
By reusing food waste, Genecis helps reduce landfill quantity, greenhouse gas emissions and waste management costs.
And since food waste is free, it has allowed the company to produce the first cost-competitive compostable plastic available for commercial use.
Converting banana peels and tossed spaghetti into plastic, “is a pretty simple process,” says Luna Yu, founder and CEO of Genecis Bioindustries. “We essentially grind everything down to a slurry,” she explains.
Optimized fermentation converts waste into plastic-like polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs). The PHA is extracted, purified and processed. PHA pellets can replace petroleum-based plastic pellets to make a variety of plastic for packaging, food services, agriculture and more that will decompose in terrestrial or marine environments in 12 months, says Ms. Yu.
Success for Ms. Yu’s company will occur when people no longer need to sort their garbage because everything can go into the green bin and be transformed back into biodegradable plastics – in a full-circle economy. “That’s the grand vision,” says Ms. Yu.
The company has provided its bioplastic solution to Amazon, Novo Nordisk, and Sodexo, while raising $30-million in funding from Khosla Ventures, BDC Capital’s Cleantech Practice, Amazon, and Y Combinator.
Ms. Yu says Genecis generated $5-million in revenue last year but with the recent launch of its first consumer brand, revenue is expected to substantially increase.
Genecis’s Mad Tea compostable tea pods for Nespresso machines hit the market in October and are already available at W Hotels locations in New York City and Los Angeles.
“We really want to continuously reduce that price point of PHA with further R&D,” says Ms. Yu. “The best way to do that is not just to raise money from investors but also to create new revenue streams ourselves, and that’s why we decided to go straight to the market and launch our own products.”
Hemp potential
University of Western Ontario chemistry professor Elizabeth Gillies led a team that developed a compostable hemp-based biomaterial that could be a viable substitute for plastic.Jeff Renaud/Western Communications
Sometimes, large manufacturers approach researchers for sustainable plastic solutions.
That’s how a chemistry professor and her team at University of Western Ontario developed a new process for making hemp bioplastic.
Korea-headquartered CTK Bio is a leading cosmetics business with 2,000 global clients like L’Oréal, Estée Lauder and Unilever. Its Canadian plant specializes in bioplastic containers for creams, lipstick, shampoo – every cosmetic imaginable.
CTK Bio Canada, based in Metro Vancouver, approached Western seeking a formulation to transform hemp (a Canadian cannabis industry waste product) – into a compostable plastic, says Elizabeth Gillies, a professor in the university’s Department of Chemistry and Chemical and Biochemical Engineering.
Her team incorporated hemp powder into lab-developed natural polymers to create bioplastic pellets that can integrate seamlessly with CTK’s existing packaging manufacturing process. “They didn’t want to have to retool their whole facility,” says Dr. Gillies, who filed a patent and published the process in the Journal of Polymer Science.
Plant-based plastics aren’t new, says Dr. Gillies, who is also Canada Research Chair in Polymeric Biomaterials, but the majority are not compostable and can take the same lengthy time to biodegrade as fossil-fuel-based plastics.
As plastic pollution has been thrust into the spotlight, Dr. Gillies has noticed more companies interested in the end life of their products and using truly compostable materials. “It’s a hot topic,” she says.
Canada has seen “tremendous growth” in compostable bioplastic research and development, she says, referring to universities developing plastic alternatives made from forestry and seafood by-products, eggshells and even plastic waste.
“It’ll be interesting to see how the field evolves over the next decade or so,” Dr. Gillies says.