Accumulation of a Direct Precursor to Acrylic Acid from Dairy Waste Fermentation

Lead organization: MicroByre 

Year launched: 2021 

This project will leverage a previously un-engineered bacterium that consumes several unrefined byproducts from the dairy industry to generate a cheap and sustainable alternative to displace petroleum-based propylene as the feedstock used to make acrylic acid. 

This method will not rely on petroleum sourcing and will not require new facilities or novel catalysts. This processing could be located near dairy processing plants, helping reduce the dairy industry’s carbon emissions and improve waste streams. 

Currently, there are no industrial-scale biomass alternatives to petroleum-derived acrylic acid, which is used to make thousands of chemicals. Vinyls, polishes, paints, plastics, coatings, adhesives, and elastomers derived from acrylic acid are found in everything from diapers to mobile phones.  

Funding source: BioMADE Project Call 1.0