Production of bio-based chemicals and polymers from renewable feedstocksbioprocesses development

Abstract

The use of by-products to produce biofuels, energy and basic chemicals is increasingly necessary in the current situation of oil shortages and environmental concern. Many compounds that have traditionally been produced from oil can now be synthesised in a biotechnological way using renewable resources. In this context, microorganisms can be effectively used as biocatalysts to carry out these transformations. With this type of process, waste streams or renewable raw materials can be used to obtain products of interest such as bioplastics of microbial origin or chemical products that can serve as monomers for the synthesis of biodegradable plastics or other types of applications. Environmental pollution caused by non-biodegradable synthetic polymer waste is a growing problem due to the stability of compounds derived from fossil fuels. In contrast, bioplastics can be obtained from renewable sources, which enables the development of sustainable production processes. In this research work, bioprocesses for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates, 2,3-butanediol and D-lactic acid using renewable raw materials such as cheese whey, camelina oil, glycerine, organic waste and orange waste were studied and developed. The characterisation of the raw materials was carried out using compositional analysis, HPLC analysis, gas chromatography and spectrophotometric techniques, among others. With these results, a selection of bacterial strains capable of synthesising the products of interest from the selected substrates was made. Once the strains were selected, the work was focused on process development in order to optimize fermentation yields and scale-up. Therefore, this research work provides knowledge on the identification and selection of industrial biocatalysts for the use of renewable feedstocks and industrial wastes for the production of bio-based chemicals and polymers. These studies pave the way for further development of sustainable biotechnological processes in the framework of biorefineries and circular bioeconomy.