$6M dollar funding for Canadian biotech company to upscale organic waste into bioplastics

In a step towards supporting and providing resources to innovative businesses, Genecis will receive the multi-million dollar funding from Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen). Genecis will collaborate with organic waste manufacturer StormFisher to put together a plant that will transform organic waste feedstock into PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates) bioplastics. The company’s patented transformation process uses its licensed bacteria converting into PHAs. Since PHAs have a property profile that mimics so many different fossil polymers, they are further used to create commercially used products. Genecis’ technology will provide manufacturers in a variety of industries quality materials for packaging, agricultural plastics, medical plastics, and additive manufacturing filaments.

Due to the use of PHA, a natural material with superior end-of-life options, the discarded products degrade into the soil providing nutrients for future crops. Waste materials made from PHA that accidentally do not end in waste collection schemes, biodegrade safely and this also ensures that discarded PHA materials do not release toxic microplastics into the environment. Genecis’ PHA plastics, for instance, the bottle made from this process takes one year to degrade compared to petroleum-derived plastics that can take anywhere between 100-1000 years. The end result is a step forward by Genecis to help companies ditch the use of petroleum-made plastics.