SBIR Phase I: Bioreactors for Upcycling Pyrolyzed Polystyrene Waste into Organic Fertilizer

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是使普通聚苯乙烯泡沫废物回收成为土壤改良剂：从有害和无处不在的废物中创造出有价值的农产品。每年，数百万磅的聚苯乙烯垃圾填埋、污染路边或污染水道，占海洋塑料垃圾总量的80%。聚苯乙烯需要几个世纪才能分解，最终分解后可能会对健康产生可怕的影响。该项目旨在将已证实的技术与微生物消化聚苯乙烯的新发现相结合，以证明聚苯乙烯可以被重组为农业中有用的营养丰富的材料的方法。由于聚苯乙烯废料的巨大供应和处理它的巨大商业需求，该项目挖掘了一种商业潜力，不仅可以为一个服务严重不足的市场提供废物处理服务，而且可以在提供废物处理服务的同时生产有价值的农产品。该项目支持NSF的使命，通过推进生物修复科学，通过从环境中去除有害废物来促进国家的健康和福利，并通过向大型工业提供急需的服务来支持国家繁荣。这个项目试图使用一种独特的技术组合来证明聚苯乙烯泡沫废物可以被处理和生物修复迅速转化为土壤修复“铸件”，可以用于园艺、农业或景观美化。该项目的研究和开发工作在于将聚苯乙烯从未经处理的废物中通过热和生物方法转化为生物塑料和有机酸的复杂过程，然后通过分解生物进一步改进并形成可用的农产品。具有大量菌株和微生物种类的生物反应器从未为此目的而部署，将与大型生物一起使用，这些大型生物的应用能力同样大部分或完全未被研究。这项研究将揭示许多物种在多个尺度上消化聚苯乙烯废物的特定能力，并将评估几种潜在的途径，通过这些途径产生的消化物可以进一步处理。将使用大样本量、条件的逐步方差和物种组合的排列来确保统计的准确性。这些方法，加上使用尖端的分析设备，将确保高精度的结果。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to enable the recycling of common polystyrene foam waste into soil amendments: creating a valuable agricultural product out of a pernicious and ubiquitous waste. Annually, millions of pounds of polystyrene waste fill landfills, blot roadsides, or pollute waterways – making up 80% of all ocean plastic waste. Taking centuries to decompose, when finally broken down polystyrene may have terrible impacts on health. This project seeks to combine proven technologies with newly discovered abilities in microorganisms to digest polystyrene, to demonstrate a means by which polystyrene can be reconstituted into nutrient-rich material useful in agriculture. Because of the vast supply of polystyrene waste and the great commercial need to dispose of it, this project taps into a commercial potential not only to provide waste disposal services to a much underserved market but can do so while simultaneously producing a valuable agricultural good. This project supports the NSF’s mission by advancing the science of bioremediation, advancing the health and welfare of the nation by removing a harmful waste product from the environment, and supporting national prosperity by providing a much-needed service to a large industry. This project seeks to use a unique combination of technologies to demonstrate that polystyrene foam waste can be processed and bioremediated rapidly into a soil amending “castings” ready for use in gardening, farming, or landscaping. The project's research and development effort lies in the complex process of converting polystyrene from an unprocessed waste into both bioplastics and organic acids by way of thermal and biological methods, before further amelioration by decomposer organisms and the formation of a usable agricultural product. Bioreactors featuring numerous strains and species of microbes never-before deployed for this purpose will be used in tandem with macro-organisms whose capabilities for this application are likewise mostly or entirely unstudied. This research will uncover the specific abilities of numerous species to digest polystyrene waste at multiple scales and will evaluate several potential pathways through which the resulting digestate could be further processed. Large sample sizes, stepwise variances in conditions, and permutations of species’ combinations will be used to ensure statistical veracity. These methods, coupled with the use of cutting-edge analytical equipment, will ensure a high precision in results.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.