PHA Bioplastic

Poly Hydroxy Alkanoates (PHA), a natural biodegradable polymer derived from microbial cultures and is the future of plastic due to its excellent

• a) plastics properties,
• b) histocompatibility and
• c) complete natural biodegradability

This being completely nontoxic, PHA is mostly used as a base product for biomedical implants and other valuable usage.
HIGH END SEGMENT: Biomedical implants and products (very high value products), Absorbable suture
LOW END SEGEMENT: Packaging for short life/ single use applications, disposable cutlery and food/ drink packaging, agricultural mulch films, sapling bags etc.

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION

R&D to develop new Products/Processes

Rigel has a strong R&D team, dedicated in industrial biotech research to develop/ upgrade various biotechnology based products/ processes. We take the pride to be selected by Bio-Technology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC), Department of Biotechnology, Government of India in July 2020 as one of the Grantee for Prestigious BIG– 16 Project Funding for an innovative technology commercial scale up to produce Bioplastics from Agro Industrial Wastewaters. This innovation is patent protected and has been highly appreciated by various international scientific publications as well as in European Bio Plastics Conference 2020. Rigel is closely working on this prestigious R&D project with a distillery in Eastern India to produce PHA based bioplastics from distillery spent wash

BIOTECHNOLOGY IGNITION GRANT aided completed project:
Title: Poly-Hydroxy Alkanoate (PHA) based bioplastics from agro wastewater

THE TECHNOLOGY

A single technology addressing two waste streams A) valorizing agro wastewater, to produce PHA bioplastic which reduces B) plastic waste pollution, by substituting non-renewable, fossil based petrochemical plastics of recalcitrant nature in various applications and getting completely biodegraded in the environment at the end of its useful life. PHAs are a family of bioplastics that are synthesized and intra-cellularly accumulated as a carbon and energy storage material by various microorganisms. Our breakthrough process in PHA production technology in continuous mode reactor systems is patent protected . With BIRAC BIG, the flagship GOI grant we have set up a prototype plant for PHA production from bacterial biomass from waste water at a grain based distillery, have optimized the technology for application with promising yield of PHA from biomass.

USP

• [●] Continuous mode, multi reactor train
• [●] Raw wastewater fed as substrate, ETP waste activated sludge used as host to harvest PHA
• [●] Single input points contrary to other processes with multiple input points/accompanying side stream reactors
• [●] Significant cost saving in large scale - continuous mode bio processing END USERS
• [●] Agro Industries like distilleries, breweries, Dairies, etc. who are already generating high
Organics wastes in their ETPs
• [●] Municipal corporation/Urban Local body for valorising sewage sludge and organic solid waste

Poster presented in European Bioplastic Association