Upcycling PHAs to innovative materials for fully sustainable food packaging

Conventional fossil-carbon plastics represent a significant environmental challenge due to their large carbon footprint and poor biodegradability in natural environments. A substantial portion of plastic production is dedicated to food packaging, contributing heavily to global plastic pollution. PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a biopolymer naturally produced by bacteria, presents a promising alternative as it is fully biodegradable, renewable, and has a low carbon footprint. However, despite its environmental benefits, PHA currently faces significant barriers to widespread adoption: it is expensive, compostable but not recyclable, and hard to process and therefore has to be blended with other less environmentally friendly polymers to form plastics.The SATISPHACTION project will address these issues by developing innovative recycling processes for PHA, with computational assistance. Moreover, the consortium will develop new formulations with increased PHA content, no harmful additives, and thermostable enzymes for accelerated self-degradation. We will demonstrate the viability of these advances through three specific food packaging use cases. We will demonstrate the complete biodegradation of these plastics in natural soils, and fresh and marine water environments, and determine their complete lifecycle impacts.