Success cases
Acceleration of biodegradation of bioplastics

DARWIN Bioprospecting Excellence is proud to collaborate on the innovative MICROFAGO project, a multidisciplinary initiative funded under the CAP Strategic Plan (2023-2027). This ambitious project, which involves esteemed partners from academia, and industry, aims to revolutionize the biodegradation of bioplastics during industrial biological treatments of organic waste, such as composting and anaerobic digestion, through specific biotechnological techniques using microorganisms and phages that modulate degradation. DARWIN’s main role will be to assess how bioaugmentation strategies introduce exogenous microorganisms with proven biodegrading activities into the process.
Problem
Bioplastics are often hailed as a sustainable alternative to conventional plastics, but they come with their own set of challenges. While derived from renewable sources, many bioplastics are not biodegradable under natural conditions or degrade inefficiently in industrial processes like composting and anaerobic digestion. This leads to a buildup of waste that undermines their environmental promise. Additionally, the lack of effective biotechnological methods to modulate their degradation and ensure complete breakdown exacerbates this issue.
Solution
The MICROFAGO project offers a groundbreaking solution to enhance the biodegradation of bioplastics in industrial organic waste treatments by modulating the microbial population. This is achieved in two key ways: first, by using bacteriophages (phages), natural viruses that specifically target and eliminate bacteria inhibiting the biodegradation process. This targeted approach clears the way for beneficial microorganisms to thrive. Second, bioaugmentation strategies introduce exogenous microorganisms with proven biodegrading activities into the process. These microorganisms are carefully isolated, characterized, and added to improve bioplastic breakdown by DARWIN. The effectiveness of these combined strategies will be rigorously evaluated across laboratory, pilot, and industrial scales, ensuring their applicability and success in real-world composting and anaerobic digestion facilities.