The manufacturing secret is genuinely tiny – the bioplastic is produced by a special strain of bacteria. These bacteria have a literal appetite for oil and are able to transform it inside their “bodies” into bioplastic. Scientists are then able to separate the bioplastic from the cells and use it. This way of producing PHA is very effective and the use of a cheap waste product reduces the manufacturing price to a commercially acceptable level.
In producing bioplastics, bacteria also excrete lipolytic enzymes outside the cell, which can be re-used throughout the whole cycle and further cut production costs. The university has patent-protected in major world markets the method of PHA bioplastic production on an oil substrate, the method of isolating PHA and the method for using waste acquired during PHA production. “The production of PHA in small amounts in the laboratory is not so difficult. The key is to know the right temperature, pH and other environmental factors which stimulate bacteria to produce PHA polymer as a reserve. The production of pure bioplastic was another challenge.” Scientists have managed to fine tune and stabilize the whole process for application on the industrial scale, and biotechnology from BUT is now heading for Chinese markets.
Why China? Asian countries are the most promising from the economic perspective. Moreover, China has the optimum conditions: firstly, it has a massive demand for biodegradable plastic products, and secondly, it has plenty of waste oil needed by bacteria. According to Petr Vávra, Head of the Economic and Commercial Section of the Czech Embassy in Beijing, the Chinese government in their strategic plans are themselves stressing the importance of new technologies for processing used oils. It is precisely the Chinese market on which Nafigate Corporation is to concentrate, i.e. the company which was granted the licence by the university for the production of bioplastics. They also want to make the most out of cooperation with BUT chemists and build a small production line in the Czech Republic at which the production is to be optimized and tested.
