Eco-friendly process for turning agricultural and forestry residues into high-value biodegradable bioplastic (PLA)

A Romanian research team in the field of biotechnology & green chemistry offers an innovative four-step process for producing polylactic acid (PLA) bioplastic from lignocellulosic biomass. The process uses chemical-free supercritical CO2 pretreatment, simultaneous enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation, and microwave-assisted polymerisation that reduces reaction time from approximately 3 days to 30 minutes. International partners are sought for commercial agreement and/ or R&D cooperation.

A Romanian research institute from Transylvania is active in the fundamental & applied research and has decades of experience in applied analytical chemistry in three main directions: (1) Environment and Health, (2) Bioenergy and Biomass and (3) Analytics and Instrumentation. The Romanian research institute has experienced scientists and researchers, as well as a remarkable endowment, that allow approaching projects from industrial research to stages "prototype realization" and "technology transfer". Lignocellulosic biomass ( including crop residues, straw, and forestry by-products) represents one of the most abundant and underutilised renewable resources in Europe. Converting this low-value waste into high-performance biodegradable bioplastic offers both an environmental and an economic opportunity, reducing dependence on fossil raw materials while adding value to agricultural supply chains. Existing PLA production routes have not yet fully exploited this potential, due to the complexity and cost of multi-stage conversion processes. Current polylactic acid (PLA) production processes face three main limitations: (i) chemical-intensive pretreatment steps that generate hazardous waste (ii) long sequential hydrolysis and fermentation stages and (iii) slow conventional thermal polymerisation (approximately 3 days at 140-170°C). The Romanian research team presents an approach that addresses all three drawbacks through a four-step process: Step 1 – Supercritical CO2 pretreatment: Lignocellulosic biomass (e.g. agricultural or forestry residues) is treated with CO2 and water at 160-200°C and 100 bar for 15-45 minutes to fractionate hemicelluloses from the cellulosic matrix – without any organic solvents or chemical reagents. Step 2 – Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF): The pretreated cellulosic fraction is hydrolysed and fermented concurrently in a single bioreactor using Trichoderma reesei ATCC 26924 cellulases, β-glucosidase, and Lactobacillus rhamnosus as the lactic acid bacterium, at 37-50°C for 24-72 hours. Yield: 29-30 g lactic acid per 100 g biomass. Step 3 – Lactic acid purification: The fermentation product is purified by extraction with ammonium sulphate and butanol. Step 4 – Microwave-assisted polycondensation: Lactic acid is polymerised in a microwave reactor at 120-140°C, 60-80 bar, for only 10-30 minutes, using xylene as solvent and SnCl2 (0.4%) as catalyst. PLA is recovered by cold methanol precipitation. Final yield: 25-27 g PLA per 100 g biomass. Product quality confirmed by ESI(+)-HRMS, 1H-NMR and FT-IR. The Romanian research team is interested in cooperation on the basis of a commercial agreement with technical assistance with industrial operators in the bioplastics, biorefinery, or sustainable materials sector who wish to adopt the technology with hands-on support from the research team during implementation and scale-up. Research and development cooperation agreements are also sought with universities, applied research institutes, or technology centres interested in co-developing improved process variants, expanding the range of biomass feedstocks, or exploring new biopolymer applications.

For the commercial agreement with technical assistance: Industrial operators in the biorefinery, bio-based chemicals, or sustainable materials sector who are evaluating the substitution of fossil-based plastics with domestically produced bio-based alternatives. This includes producers of biodegradable packaging, agricultural films, disposable tableware, or textile fibres based on PLA, who require process know-how transfer and technical support during technology adoption and scale-up. The partner should have access to lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks (agricultural residues, forestry by-products, agro-industrial waste) and the basic infrastructure for biochemical processing. For the R&D cooperation agreement: Universities, applied research institutes with expertise in one or more of the following areas: lignocellulosic biomass processing and biorefinery, fermentation and enzyme technology, polymer chemistry and biopolymer engineering, microwave-assisted synthesis, or circular economy and bio-based materials. Partners from the food and agro-industrial sector generating lignocellulosic by-products who wish to valorise their waste streams through cooperative research are also of interest.