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

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛/商业影响是能够将普通聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料废物回收用于土壤改良剂：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在垃圾填埋场、污染路边或污染水道--占所有海洋塑料垃圾的80%。当聚苯乙烯最终分解时，需要几个世纪的时间才能分解，这可能会对健康产生可怕的影响。该项目寻求将经过验证的技术与新发现的微生物消化聚苯乙烯的能力相结合，以展示一种方法，通过这种方法，聚苯乙烯可以被重组为对农业有用的营养丰富的材料。由于聚苯乙烯废物的大量供应和处理的巨大商业需求，该项目挖掘了商业潜力，不仅可以为服务严重不足的市场提供废物处理服务，而且可以在生产有价值的农业产品的同时做到这一点。该项目通过推进生物修复科学来支持NSF的使命，通过从环境中去除有害废物来促进国家的健康和福利，并通过向大型行业提供急需的服务来支持国家繁荣。该项目试图使用一种独特的技术组合来证明，聚苯乙烯泡沫塑料废物可以被处理并迅速生物转化到土壤中，以改良准备用于园艺、农业或景观的“铸件”。该项目的研发工作在于通过热和生物方法将聚苯乙烯从未经处理的废物转化为生物塑料和有机酸的复杂过程，然后由分解生物进一步改进并形成可用的农产品。具有许多以前从未为此目的部署过的微生物菌株和种类的生物反应器将与宏观生物一起使用，这些微生物的这一应用能力同样大多或完全没有得到研究。这项研究将揭示许多物种在多个规模上消化聚苯乙烯废物的特定能力，并将评估几种可能的途径，通过这些途径可以进一步处理产生的消化产物。为了确保统计的准确性，将使用大样本量、条件的逐步变化和物种组合的排列。这些方法，再加上尖端分析设备的使用，将确保结果的高精确度。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.