Birch Biosciences scales enzymatic PET recycling tech

Birch Biosciences, an AI-driven plastic recycling technology start-up, has entered a global patent license agreement with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to expand its enzymatic deconstruction technology that breaks down PET.

Developed by NREL researchers, the technology facilitates the rapid and efficient recovery of high-value PET monomers from the enzymatic breakdown of PET. The monomers can be remanufactured into virgin-quality PET to create recycled content-based products.

Dr. Johan Kers, co-founder and CEO at Birch, says: “This licensing agreement represents a significant step forward in our mission to enable a circular plastic economy using biological solutions.”

“NREL’s process perfectly complements our enzymatic recycling platform and will help us achieve scalable, low-cost plastic recycling.”

Birch will incorporate the chemical process into its biocatalytic recycling platform to accelerate the commercialization of “sustainable, closed-loop solutions for plastic waste, helping address a global environmental challenge.”

Enzymatic recycling 

As plastic pollutes oceans and ecosystems, recycling can be essential to drive circularity. Birch highlights that while 400 million tons of plastic are produced yearly, only a small amount is recycled. 

Enzymatic recycling is an alternative to traditional methods that avoids the quality degradation of mechanical recycling and high temperatures and toxic substances needed for chemical recycling methods. 

Dr. Gregg Beckham, senior research fellow at NREL, adds: “NREL is pleased to partner with Birch Biosciences to bring this technology to market. This is a great example of how national laboratories and industry can collaborate to address plastics recycling challenges with real-world impact.”