Cargill links up with Virent to upcycle agricultural waste to packaging raw material

08 Oct 2020 --- Cargill and renewable energy company Virent are working together to evaluate the use of Cargill’s corn dextrose as a feedstock for Virent’s BioForming technology, producing raw material for packaging solutions. The companies are demonstrating this technology’s applicability in upcycling waste streams from any plant source.

“Virent has looked at agricultural wastes such as corn stover (along with sugar cane bagasse, sugar beets and more) as feedstocks for this process,” Dave Kettner, Virent president, tells PackagingInsights.

“The technology works with sugars from these types of feedstocks though additional steps are needed up front to break down the agricultural wastes into sugars feedstocks and remove impurities.”

Virent is operating a demonstration scale plant of this technology in Madison, Wisconsin, US, which can convert sugars feedstocks to a chemical product (BioForm PX Paraxylene), a key raw material for production of polyester. 

“Virent has worked with other companies in the polyester supply chain to convert BioForm PX to a 100 percent bio-based polyester, which was then used to make beverage packaging and fiber for textiles,” highlights Kettner.

Upcycling food waste into ingredients or products for human consumption could become standard practice as the world’s population grows.“One project that was announced publicly was a demonstration scale project with Coca-Cola to produce 100 percent bio PET bottles.”

Virent’s BioForming technology is capable of producing drop-in renewable gasoline and jet fuel, and lower carbon biochemicals.

Scaling up the BioForming process
There are many companies working on cellulosic sugars technologies but not yet at commercial scale. Cargill and Virent anticipate that they will be able to introduce cellulosic sugars as a feedstock into the same facilities as first generation feedstocks.

“Establishing the Virent BioForming process as a viable opportunity for producing jet fuel and renewable gasoline as a complement to ethanol will not only open new markets for corn but expand the greater opportunities for both renewable fuels and chemicals,” says Kettner.

Upon completion of the study, Virent will use the findings to evaluate options for scale-up and the development of a first commercial plant utilizing the BioForming technology.

The long-term objective is to use commercially available feedstocks today as a bridge to next-generation lignocellulosic feedstocks in the future.

“Cargill is excited to take this next step in our long-standing journey with Virent. Virent’s biochemical R&D expertise and Bioforming technology combined with Cargill’s global strength in carbohydrate feedstock and expertise in corn processing makes this a natural joint effort,” comments Cargill managing director, Mike Wagner. 

“Building out the bioeconomy and increasing the diversification of our corn grind are both at the core of our strategy, making this an ideal project and highly compatible partnership for Cargill.”Cargill and Virent are evaluating the use of Cargill’s corn dextrose as feedstock for Virent’s BioForming technology.

From waste to value-added solutions
Upcycling is coined “the new recycling,” under Innova Market Insights’ third Top Trend for 2020, “The Sustain Domain.” It holds great potential across a range of waste streams, from used coffee grounds for car parts to fish waste for nutritional ingredients. 

Upcycling food waste into ingredients or products for human consumption could become standard practice as the world’s population grows, according to Oakland Innovation, part of a consumer science group.

One of the latest moves in this space is from Renewal Mill, specializing in “oat okara” – a nutritious flour made from the oat pulp leftover when oat milk is made.

Following an investigation of over a decade, research has found that adding peanut skins can boost milk chocolate’s antioxidant properties while upcycling waste streams. Notably, these additions did not affect the texture or taste of the confection.

From an experimental scientific point of view, Cargill and Renmatix teamed up to explore a novel approach for upcycling a broad range of plant biomasses into highly functional food ingredients.

Canadian company Wize Monkey specializes in upcycling of prunings from the arabica coffee plant to create a tea product that is similar to black tea, while providing a new revenue stream to farmers during the coffee off-season.

Also spotlighted in the upcycling space, EU-funded project YPACK is developing biodegradable food packaging from upcycled cheese whey and almond shells.

By Benjamin Ferrer