Using bacteria to power a sustainable future

 The Scotiabank Climate Action Research Fund is being awarded to Professor Christian Euler for a groundbreaking approach that aims to use bacteria to transform combined waste streams, including plastic-derived waste and CO2 into sustainable products such as bioplastics.

The Scotiabank Climate Action Research Fund is granted to organizations and charities that are conducting climate-related research and exploring opportunities for decarbonization. Euler’s project offers a glimpse into a possible future where some types of waste could be a part of the solution.

“Innovation and research are important in the transition to a lower-carbon economy,” said Kim Brand, Vice President, Global Sustainable Business at Scotiabank. “At Scotiabank, we believe that research and collaboration can unlock practical solutions for businesses, communities, and individuals alike. The goal of the Climate Action Research Fund is to support initiatives, like the one underway at the University of Waterloo, to come to life in support of solutions for a more sustainable future.”

Euler’s research group could potentially create tailored biopolymers with specific properties by adjusting the bacteria’s feedstock. For instance, biopolymers could be created for use as biodegradable packaging. 

“It’s amazing to see this turn into something tangible—a technology that not only reduces emissions but creates value from waste,” says Euler, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

Innovation Partnership

Euler’s industrial partner is Comcor Environmental Limited (Comcor), an environmental engineering firm based in Southern Ontario that specializes in landfill gas control. Landfills emit large amounts of greenhouse gases, including methane and CO2.

One of Comcor’s projects (through Integrated Gas Recovery Services Inc.) involves the collection of landfill gas that is dehydrated and treated to create renewable natural gas.  This process results in both CO2 and hydrogen waste streams that are not being capitalized.

Comcor seeks to increase the sustainability of the project’s operations by exploring how to create valuable products from these waste streams. Although the project already significantly reduces greenhouse gas emissions, Comcor seeks to improve the overall sustainability of the operations.

The star of the project is a bacterium called Cupriavidus necator. It is special because it can take in CO2 even in the presence of oxygen, which is an unusual ability.

“Due to the bacteria’s natural ability to do CO2 fixation aerobically, it’s the perfect one for us to play with, to teach it to use other sources of energy to do that. The other fascinating thing is that the bacteria store CO2 as a bioplastic,” says Euler.

This process is carbon-conservative and circular as it reuses existing CO2 rather than introducing new fossil carbon into the system to create products.

Transforming CO2 is energy intensive.  The research group is investigating whether the bacteria can use energy from waste materials like plastic or food waste to drive the process.

Plastic-derived molecules, or volatile fatty acids that are naturally formed in landfills could act as energy sources. The research group is considering adding a fermentation step to make the process more efficient.

Going beyond the lab bench

Euler’s research is not just theoretical; the hope is to design a viable solution for operational projects, like Comcor’s landfill gas to renewable natural gas project.

Support from the Scotiabank Climate Action Research Fund will allow Euler to do techno-economic and life cycle assessments for using bacteria to consume mixed waste streams at industrial scale. It will evaluate the economic feasibility of building a process using bacteria with the waste streams found in Southern Ontario.

Process parameters from lab-scale work will inform process model development. Euler’s group will assess the costs – both economic and environmental – of the inputs and outputs using the resulting model. This will help them understand how risky the sources are and the value of the final products.

Euler, who will receive $100, 000 from the Scotiabank Climate Action Fund, is looking to recruit an entrepreneurial-minded PhD student to help drive this project forward and turn the concept into a viable, scalable technology.