Using wastewater to power biomanufacturing

A new process is reusing the nutrients in wastewater to produce feedstocks for biomanufacturing

Spotted: Biomanufacturing is one of the most important technologies today. It relies on naturally occurring reactions and processes to produce materials that would traditionally be produced through a synthetic process. The biggest benefit is that biomanufacturing uses far less energy than the processes it replaces.

Biomanufacturing is already used to improve the sustainability of plastics, rubber, textiles, chemicals, food, and energy. Now, startup Hyfé is working to make biomanufacturing itself more sustainable. Hyfé does this by converting the nutrients found in wastewater left over from the food processing industry into a source of nutrients required for biomanufacturing feedstocks.

These waste nutrients are captured and turned into easy-to-metabolise feedstock for biomanufacturing. The process not only reduces waste and enables water reuse, but it also reduces the energy needed for manufacturing feedstocks. This makes biomanufacturing both more sustainable and more competitive over traditional manufacturing processes.

Hyfé was founded by ExxonMobil and LanzaTech engineers in 2021 and recently announced the completion of an oversubscribed $9 million (around €8 million) seed investment round led by Synthesis Capital. This joins an earlier round to bring the company’s funding to date to $11 million (around €9.8 million).

In the archive, Springwise has spotted the use of biomanufacturing to produce an increasing range of products, from food-grade protein to chemicals. There may even come a time when almost all raw materials are produced using some form of biomanufacturing.

Written By: Lisa Magloff