Waste to resource: Converting paper mill wastewater to bioplastic

Combining the enrichment and accumulation step in non-axenic PHA production: Cultivation of Plasticicumulans acidivorans at high volume exchange ratios

“…7). Still, the PHB content of the harvested biomass ranks among the higher values reported for non-axenic PHB production (Jiang et al, 2012;Serafim et al, 2008).…”

“…To reduce the production cost of PHA and allow broad application, various researchers investigated the use of open microbial communities and waste organic carbon as substrate (Albuquerque et al, 2010;Bengtsson et al, 2008;Coats et al, 2007;Dionisi et al, 2005;Jiang et al, 2012). The process for non-axenic PHA production from organic waste comprises three steps: (1) acidogenic fermentation of the waste stream, (2) enrichment of a PHA-producing culture, and (3) production of the PHA (Dionisi et al, 2004;Serafim et al, 2008).…”

“…Once a stable culture is obtained, the SBR will be operated as a biomass production step and the excess sludge used in step 3: maximization of the PHA content of the biomass in a (nitrogen-limited) fed-batch reactor (Johnson et al, 2009a). Biomass with PHA contents of 70-80 wt% has thus been produced from fermented waste streams like molasses and paper or food industry effluents (Albuquerque et al, 2010;Jiang et al, 2012;Tamis et al, 2014). The highest PHA contents reported for microbial enrichment cultures are around 90 wt% and were obtained using sole acetate or lactate as substrate (Jiang et al, 2011b;Johnson et al, 2009a).…”

“…Moreover, fermented organic waste streams -containing also compounds that are less suitable for PHA production -will ultimately be used as substrate. This will lead to the co-enrichment of non-PHA-storing bacteria and thereby to a reduction of the culture's PHA content (Jiang et al, 2012;Tamis et al, 2014).…”

Industrial Sustainability and the Circular Economy as Counterparts to the Self-Referral Structure of Natural Law: Part II – A Global Case Study

“…The circular economy (CE) is "like a lake", according to Stahel (2016, p. 436), because its parts interact in a mutually dependent and symbiotic manner. CE has evolved to help companies reduce their dependence on diminishing and increasingly costly natural resources while generating revenue from the so-called 'waste-to-resource' mentality (Jiang et al, 2012). According to Stahel (2016, p. 436), "reprocessing of goods and materials generates jobs and saves energy while reducing resource consumption and waste.…”