The listing is for AnoxKaldnes’ Cella™ Technology which produces bioplastics from sewage treatment sludge.
Bioplastics, based on polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) have been produced industrially by the fermentation of sugars since the 1980s, but Cella converts organic matter (COD) in domestic residual streams such as wastewater, waste activated sludge, municipal organic wastes, and other industrial or agricultural wastes or by-products. The first biopolymers were produced by Cella prototype plants in Belgium and Sweden in the autumn of 2011, and pilot plants are now also operating in The Netherlands and Denmark. Recent development work has focused on optimising conditions in the activated sludge process for the selective growth of biomass with PHA-storing capacity. The product of the process, CellaPol™, is a feedstock that can be formulated into bioplastics as a replacement for fossil fuel derived plastics. Bioplastics have the advantage that, being fully biodegradable, they can be recycled using the same process, closing the loop on the “circular economy”. The WIAA Most Innovative New Technology of the Year winning entry will be announced on 17 May at the Hilton Birmingham Metropole, UK.
