What's the Problem?

Every year, 80 million tons of diapers and feminine hygiene products are discarded in landfills, making up 4% of municipal solid waste. These products are non-biodegradable, and their biological waste content makes recycling impossible. Developing biodegradable hygiene products is crucial to address this environmental issue. However, finding sustainable alternatives to sodium polyacrylate, a non-biodegradable fossil fuel derivative used as the primary superabsorbent material, remains a challenge. Current bio-based superabsorbent alternatives either fall short of polyacrylate's performance standards or are less cost-competitive due to complex production processes.

How are they Solving it?

PolyMera leverages the adaptive mechanisms of an extremophile Antarctic bacterium to develop naturally biodegradable biopolymers with exceptional superabsorbent capabilities. Our biomaterials, which can absorb up to 500 times their weight in water, provide a high-performance, sustainable alternative to fossil-derived superabsorbents found in hygiene products. This bacterium is unique in its ability to produce a superabsorbent biopolymer naturally, without the need for chemical modifications. The polymer is produced at room temperature with minimal nutritional requirements, ensuring a straightforward production process. This approach simplifies the multi-step methods used in other alternatives and is easily scalable to industrial levels, using proven technologies similar to those for other bacterial polymers.

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