Bacteria that completely eat themselves and produce a substance that can make you bioplastic. It sounds like science fiction, but it has been happening for millions of years. Only we humans didn’t know. Until now, because Paques Biomaterials will start a ProEff factory in Emmen after years of research where plastic will be removed from waste water.
The ordinary plastic that we still use now massively is really bad. “It is made from petroleum, whereby a lot of CO2 is released during. Moreover, it is not demolished in nature,” explains Joost Paques from the edge of a basin of the waste water treatment of Chemiepark. “Ultimately, a lot of microplastic ends up in nature, in animals and in people. Very environmentally polluting and very bad for health.”
The raw material for bioplastic that Paques wants to make comes from industrial waste water and is green with a lot of help from bacteria. And to reuse infinitely.
Paques explains how it works: “Bacteria in the waste water eats are packed. In fact, they are bacteria with obesity. Because they eat food the substance PHA. That is a bio-polymer and you can make it bioplastic. We start with waste water from cardboard and paper factory Eska in Hoogezand.” The Proffabriek in Emmen is intended to remove the PHA from the bacteria.