Plastics and Microplastics remain and accumulate in our oceans for hundreds, possibly thousands of years. From the Atlantic islands and thousands of bird nests across Northwest Europe to fruits and vegetables, they are everywhere. But, that’s not all, plastic pollution is found in the deep depths of the ocean and embedded in the seafloor to the guts of coral and turtles, and they even “stick around” in human organs.
They are already affecting aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity and introducing toxic elements into the food chain. For example, microplastics affect respiratory systems in Japanese rice fish, and microplastic eating fish are dying younger.
The source of the problem can come from disposable waste, or sometimes it’s less prominent. For example, laundry detergent is typically made with plastic microcapsules to hold fragrance. Soon, these “added” microplastics will be banned in products across Europe.
However, there hasn’t been a viable alternative that combines biodegradability with fragrance performance and stability in laundry care products until recently.
Thankfully, Paris-based biotech startup Calyxia has developed new readily biodegradable microcapsules, EnviroCaps, and is scaling up production. The company recently announced that it raised €15 million ($17.5 million) in an Astanor Ventures-led Series A round of funding, has already signed commercial agreements with global laundry product manufacturers.
In addition, the startup is also developing coatings that can be applied to plastic products—like sporting goods, electronics, or cars—to prevent the material from releasing microplastics as it wears down.
CEO and Co-founder of Calyxia Jamie Walters, a researcher at the Parisian university ESPCI, partnered with scientists from Cambridge University and Harvard to develop the new green manufacturing technology. The process creates microcapsule products from thousands of different shell materials.
This enabled the Calyxia team to rapidly build a massive library of potential biodegradable materials to use for the shells that combine extraordinary performance and biodegradability. The result was EnviroCaps, the world’s first non-toxic, readily biodegradable, and high-performance fragrance microcapsules.
In agriculture, microcapsules are used to release active ingredients such as pesticides slowly. Using capsules improves crop yield and uses less of the active ingredient than sprayed on crops directly. However, the current products are made from plastic and end up harming the soil health. In contrast, the new microcapsules fully degrade, leaving only CO2 and oxygen. As a bonus, the capsules also boost performance, so the companies can use less of the active ingredient, reducing costs.
In laundry care products, microcapsules are used to protect fragrance from evaporating, deliver the scent to the fabric during a wash cycle, and then slowly release that fragrance during wear for long-lasting freshness. As mentioned before, existing microcapsules are plastic and, therefore, don’t degrade. They end up washing down pipes and eventually harming aquatic ecosystems. In lab tests, Calyxia found that its EnviroCaps fully biodegrade at water treatment plants.
The coating that Calyxia plans to create will protect plastic products from UV degradation or wear. “We live in a plastic world, and these plastic materials degrade,” Walters pointed out. As the product breaks down, the coating delivers a lubricant that halts further wear, allowing the material to last up to 10 times longer.
Walters said:
We are proud to be contributing to the EU’s efforts against microplastics. As new regulations to eliminate intentionally added microplastics are implemented, so manufacturers and consumers will need greener solutions such as ours.
In a new production facility in Europe, the company can manufacture hundreds of tons of green products and aims to scale up to thousands of tons, as it starts working with large firms that urgently need to make changes before the EU microplastic ban goes into effect in 2022. Furthermore, Calyxia plans to expand to the American and Asian markets in the coming years.
