Planted Materials, a pioneering provider of renewable feedstocks to global manufacturers, announced its plans to use its proprietary Planted Materials Modular Recycling Process (PM2RP) for the sequential processing of non-woody waste biomass into various chemical building blocks necessary to drive the circular economy. By recycling organic waste into tannins, lipids, and cellulose, Planted Materials aims to supply local manufacturers with the renewable materials to reduce the state’s carbon emissions by 2% within one year.
“We’ve spent the past four years analyzing different types of organic waste to identify market-ready materials that will drive the circular economy and help shift global dependence away from fossil fuels,” said Noah Belkhous, CEO and co-founder of Planted Materials. “Our commercialization plan is designed to help Washington reduce waste and emissions while also supplying companies with the necessary materials to help other manufacturers achieve their own sustainability goals.”
Rapidly reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be approached via addressing energy production and usage. Energy use by the manufacturing sector is often overlooked as a viable way to alleviate environmental damage because it is independent of the daily lives of most individuals. Planted Materials has spent the past four years designing processes that minimize reliance on fossil fuels while maximizing the use of readily abundant sources of biomass.
Upon commercialization of the Planted Materials biorefinery, energy use and GHG emissions will be reduced via a highly efficient process which captures biogenetic carbon in the products being produced, thus realizing all of the input biomass potential. Urban areas can especially benefit from the Planted Materials PM2RP as it offers access to renewable materials that do not compete with land use for food production.
“Our recent analytical laboratory trials have validated proof of concept stage technology that is being refined for pilot scale demonstration using non-woody biomass. Through an iterative approach, PM2RP will expand to accommodate a diverse range of inputs which can be seamlessly integrated with existing infrastructure such as waste management/recycling or food processing facilities,” explained Greg Jenson, the CTO and co-founder of Planted Materials. “At commercial scale operation these advanced biorefineries will be the backbone of the circular economy by employing novel mechanical, chemical, and biochemical technologies.”