Project using methane gas to produce biodegradable plastic replacements

Mango Materials, a California-based company that creates biodegradable polymers for use in plastic products, has been scaling up and commercializing a biomanufacturing technology that utilizes methane gas to produce the biopolymer polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA), and is leading a project along with partners Black & Veatch, R2DIO and the University of California-Davis to address how this process can succeed in low-resource environments.

The project, which began last July and will run through June 2026, aims to demonstrate technical, economic and societal feasibility of novel, decentralized biomaterials manufacturing. It is being funded by BioMADE, which in October of last year announced a $26.9 million investment in 17 projects supporting bio-industrial manufacturing innovations and workforce development in the United States.

Mango Materials says demonstrating the feasibility of novel, decentralized biomaterials manufacturing could open the door for opportunities to advance biomanufacturing in constrained areas with limited access to inputs, including water, energy or process chemicals. Additionally, it says reducing resource use, understanding the smallest viable plant and developing and demonstrating clear plans for training the future workforce will enable deployment of multiple biomanufacturing units in decentralized, low-resource areas, facilitating point-of-need production for biodegradable plastic replacements.

The company adds that by creating biomaterials with locally available resources, such as untreated water or feedstocks, local regions could increase economic resiliency, avoid the need for imported plastic and reduce costs by reducing inputs.

Mango Materials says Black & Veatch is heading an objective to build a technoeconomic model to identify the smallest possible cost-effective biomanufacturing unit, while UC Davis will be spearheading educational programs to train the upcoming workforce, including a Teen BioTech Challenge.

The biodegradable plastic replacements are being developed through a process that uses large fermenters, or tanks, to grow methane-utilizing bacteria, which then are triggered to produce PHA through nutrient limitation. Mango Materials says the bacteria then accumulate granules of polymer inside their cell walls, and the contents of the tanks are then dewatered and broken open through mechanical lysis.

Mango Materials says that PHA produced from biogas can be carbon negative and have a superior life cycle assessment compared to existing plastics.

“While our ultimate goal is to replace all plastics, we are initially targeting injection-molded goods and fibers,” the company says. “We also have projects working on films and 3D printing.”