Sustainable production of PHAs through valorisation of seaweed processing waste

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Seaweeds offer enormous potential as a sustainable bio-based feedstock for the production of valuable chemicals and materials as an alternative to fossil fuel derived equivalents e.g. bioplastics, personal care products, and textiles. However, to maximise their potential and extract maximum value from each seaweed harvest, it is vital that all fractions of the biomass are used to improve processing sustainability and economics in line with a circular biorefinery approach.FlexSea have developed a novel flexible film product using hydrocolloids extracted from seaweeds which only uses 20-40% of the dry seaweed, with the remainder discarded. In this project, we will explore the feasibility of using the waste streams leftover from hydrocolloid extraction as a feedstock for microbial production of PHAs (bio-based plastic alternatives).By producing two single use plastic- alternatives (hydrocolloid films; PHAs) in a biorefinery approach, we aim to improve the overall sustainability (no waste) and economics (reduced raw material costs; additional revenue stream) of using seaweed as a sustainable bio-based feedstock.