As I noted in an earlier post, the matter of figuring out the best way to dispose of human waste has been haunting mankind since the beginnings of civilization. Current treatment of raw sewage results in large quantities of sludge which is not good fertilizer and is laden with toxic materials. Disposing of sludge is a huge problem for waste treatment plants. Enter Micromidas, a finalist at the Clean Tech Open. They have an idea - and it sounds like it's load
Sludgeed with win!
Why It's Keen:
Using Microbes, they are able to convert the CO2 in the sludge into polyhydroxylalkanoate (PHA) flakes which then can be turned into bio-plastics. Bio-plastics can be used for plastic containers and function similar to synthetic plastics. Finally, by capturing carbon that would normally be released into the atmosphere the process should result in carbon credits, mostly likely for the municipality who runs the sewage treatment plant. If this turns out to be true, it could be a key element in turning this technology into a reality as it will make it easier to be economically as well as environmentally justified.
Why It's Green:
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