Bioplastech Ltd
Cashel Road Unit 9 Block C
Cashel Business Centre
12 Dublin
Ireland
www.bioplastech.eu
Bioplastech Ltd
Cashel Road Unit 9 Block C
Cashel Business Centre
12 Dublin
Ireland
www.bioplastech.eu
The company’s success to date has been the production of bio-polymers known as medium-chain length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mclPHA). These mclPHAs are elastomers and are more flexible than any other PHA-polymer currently on the market. They are fully bio-degradable blends and additives, ideal for commodity and packaging applications.
They can also be used in their pure form for medical devices or as blends or additives to enhance flexibility and strength of other polymers. Bioplastech currently holds the licence for the patented technology involved in the conversion of PET to PHA.
Bioplastech will be responsible for the validation and scaling of PHA production processes developed in collaboration with the partners in MIX-UP. Bioplastech will produce PHA from the monomers, mixed or otherwise, produced by the enzymatic degradation
of plastic waste using synthetic organisms and mixed cultures in 5L fermentation to benchmark, validate, and select viable processes for modelling and scale-up.
Dr William Casey is an experienced microbiologist with significant expertise in microbial bioprocessing including production of value added chemicals, proteins and biopolymers. His doctoral research focused on the elucidation of metabolic and regulatory pathways involved in the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from various industrially important substrates. He was awarded his doctorate from University College Dublin in 2013. While working with Bioplastech Ltd. he has applied his extensive research experience to developing bespoke fermentation strategies for major Irish agri-food partners.
Dr Shane Kenny was Bioplastech’s director of bio-processing. He held a PhD in industrial microbiology from UCD. He subsequently worked for two years as a postdoctoral researcher in the field of industrial bio-polymer research in UCD where he was responsible for the co-mentoring of Degree, MSc and PhD students. Dr Kenny has been leading the manufacturing and research programmes of Bioplastech for the last seven years. In this role, he has been responsible for the supervision of all of the technical and research staff at Bioplastech. This involves the design and operation of pilot-scale equipment both in Ireland and internationally.