Environmental Impact

Public awareness of the increasing threats to our environment governs the interest towards mitigation methods regarding municipal sold waste. Planning effective and sustainable investments requires an understanding of the needs and preferences of a wide variety of stakeholders and the corresponding social impacts. The needs of a society and the extent to which users take ownership of systems and facilities are dependent on the specific local/country values.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s study on municipal solid waste generation, recycling, and disposal found that there was 250,000,000 metric tons of MSW disposed of in the United States in 2010 alone [EPA]. The figure below shows the weight generated per year of some of the major constituent materials of the MSW from 1960 to 2010 in the United States. Over the last few decades, the generation of MSW has changed substantially. Solid waste generation has increased from 3.66 to 4.43 pounds per person per day between 1980 and 2010 [EPA]. Additionally, over the past 5 years paper products alone have accounted for 31% of the total MSW by weight before recycling [EPA].

Due to environmental concern, government regulations and economic considerations, there has been a consistent increased effort in recycling endeavours over the past years. Recycling rates have increased from less than 10% of MSW generated in 1980 to about 34% in 2010 [EPA]. Additionally, the disposal of waste to a landfill has decreased from 89% of the amount generated in 1980 to about 54% of MSW in 2010 [EPA]. As seen in the figure below, the highest recovery rates in 2010 were achieved with paper and paperboard products. More than 62 percent of the paper generated was recycled. As a result, recycling paper products not only affects the upstream processes in paper production (where raw materials are acquired), but also has consequences on the downstream portion of paper use (waste-disposal).

Our process has the potential to divert approximately 50 ton/day of solid by-product from paper recycling plants and pulp and paper mills away from landfill. We will utilize the cellulose within these streams for the production of high value specialty chemicals. The solids which remain after fermentation will be composted. The current cost of disposal of these effluent streams is $25/wet ton. Not only are we exploring a more sustainable solution for these plants but we are also removing a previously unavoidable cost.

Social Impact

Building Expertise in Synthetic Biology

According to a new market report published by BCC, the global synthetic biology market was worth $1.1 billion in 2010 and is expected to reach $10.8 billion by 2016. This represents a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 45.8%. Additionally, the global value of the enabled products segment reached $944.7 million in 2010. It is expected to grow to nearly $9.5 billion by 2016 at a CAGR of 46.5%.

Our business opportunity will build expertise in the in the rapidly expanding industry of synthetic biology. The industry as a whole is comprised of two essential components: (1) the development of a platform technology, and (2) the application of projects across a range of fields. Those involved in our venture will gain skills related to the engineering principles of standardisation, modularisation, and characterisation, coupled with industrial system design.

Rural Communities

Although we are designing our first plants to utilize effluent streams from paper recycling plants and pulp & paper mills, we plan to expand our feedstocks in the future. Ideally, we will develop processes using agricultural (lignocellulosic) biomass residues such as barley, corn, canola, oat and wheat straw. However, this plant material must undergo delignification before it can be used. There has been an increase in biotechnological research on the subjects of synthesis of lignin in plants and the degradation of lignin by microorganisms. Once these technologies are further developed, the use of agricultural biomass as a feedstock for our process is more likely.

Use of agricultural biomass is a stimulus to rural economies. The socioeconomic benefits include employment, infrastructure improvements, increased land value, and income from smallholder cultivation. Cellulose is contained in nearly every natural, free-growing plant thus there is a wide variety of possible source materials. The demand for suitable crops will provide economic stimulation to the agricultural industry. Local job creation and increased land value are a few of the benefits for rural communities.