Teamwork among microbes
How MATERI-8 wants to make the world a better place
Your Challenge:
Circular Biomanufacturing
Until now, our manufacturing processes have almost entirely been based on the use of newly, mined raw materials with not enough coming from the recycling of waste streams. This places an enormous burden on the environment and our society. In addition, dependencies remain in global supply chains that could be reduced through access to local materials.
Instead, we can create a circular economy in which new products are manufactured locally, using valorized waste streams as a source for raw materials, to build more sustainable and resilient production platforms.
To achieve this, biomanufacturing processes must be developed to market maturity and directly integrated with modern production processes. Scientific advances in recent years have produced new findings and methods that can significantly increase the performance of biomanufacturing processes and open up new application possibilities. Although alternative ways of producing a wide range of products to replace the conventional petrochemical or chemical manufacturing processes have gone to market, breakthroughs have so far only been achieved in niche applications. We need to reach the goal where the majority of bulk products are made through biomanufacturing processes that enable the use of locally available raw materials.
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The challenge: to develop an end-to-end prototype that processes various carbonaceous waste streams into new products as a continuous bioproduction process.
The prototype must demonstrate how carbonaceous waste streams can be processed and fed to microbes as food. The overall bioproduction process shall not use E. Coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae and shall demonstrate continuous production over a period of at least 180 days during the Challenge. At the end of the process, at least three different products should be produced using a modern manufacturing process, such as additive manufacturing.
The Challenge runs over a three-year period. A panel of globally recognized experts will assist SPRIND in evaluating the applications and select up to eight teams to participate. During the Challenge period, teams further develop their bioproduction technology to achieve the Challenge goal.
Teams participating in this Challenge are fully challenged. SPRIND therefore provides intensive and individual support. This includes funding the teams with up to €1.5 million in Stage 1 of the Challenge, which started in November 2023. In order to unleash the full potential, SPRIND also provides a coach to accompany each team's work, advise them and network them. After one year and after two years, the jury reconvenes in each case to evaluate the interim status and decide which approaches have the greatest breakthrough innovation potential and which teams can prove themselves in the Challenge until the end.
In October 2024, the expert jury, on behalf of SPRIND, selected the participants for the second phase of the Circular Biomanufacturing
Challenge. Over the next 12 months, the six teams will each receive up to 2 million euros to further develop their technology. The teams will also be supported by SPRIND, advised, and connected with additional experts and coaches. After one year, the jury will assess the progress of the developments and decide which teams will advance to the third stage of the Challenge.
The Teams
Science Youtuber Jacob Beautemps introduces the Challenge teams at Breaking Lab
Do you have further questions?
Please feel free to contact us at challenge@sprind.org.
More about this topic
More Challenges and Funken
They can be found in fashion shops, in wardrobes and, ultimately, in the rubbish: mountains of clothing are piling up in the environment around the world. One reason for this is that clothing is often made from a mixture of cotton, polyester, acrylic and elastane – which makes it difficult to recycle. Plastics are similar. Many plastics are a mix of materials that are difficult to separate.
I'm tired of seeing all the pictures of destroyed and damaged things and feeling like most people don't care and the policies we put in place don't seem to make a difference,says Dr Samantha Bryan.
I really want to see that what we are doing through the SPRIND Circular Biomanufacturing Challenge makes a real difference and turns waste into something valuable that people can benefit from.
We feed the waste to a consortium of very different microorganisms.
Samantha Bryan is an Associate Professor at the University of Nottingham, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, and co-founder and CTO of the University spin-out biotech company 17Cicada Ltd. She became aware of the SPRIND Circular Biomanufacturing Challenge through the innovation consultant Dr. Patricia Parlevliet. Together with Prof. Derek Irvine, der auch Teil des Centre of Additive Manufacturing (CfAM) ist, Dr. Anca Pordea and Dr. Luisa Ciano from the University of Nottingham, the two women formed the team ‘MATERI-8’ in 2023 and developed a new recycling approach using genetically modified and non-genetically modified microorganisms.
We basically use anything that would otherwise be incinerated as raw materials because we are determined to reduce CO₂ and methane emissions,explains Samantha Bryan. As well as clothing and plastic, the team is also focusing on pepper stalks, which cannot be composted when they are contaminated with plastic.
We feed the waste to a consortium of very different microorganisms,says Patricia Parlevliet.
That's why we specifically looked for bacteria and fungi that work well together.The product of thismicrobial cooperation: a biomass mix that is free of plastic.
In a second step, we hydrolyse the resulting biomass, i.e. we break it down and feed it to a single strain of bacteria,Samantha Bryan explains.
The bacteria use the biomass as a carbon-nitrogen source and produce products that we can use to make polymers.
Specifically, MATERI-8 wants to use specific acids as basic molecules to develop a polymer product for antimicrobial coatings. In the long term, synthetic resins could be used, for example, for medical devices, which are usually incinerated after a single use. The team wants to avoid this: their chemicals should lead to biodegradable or recyclable products.
They are supported by SPRIND and the Challenge mentoring programme:
Patricia Parlevliet and Samantha Bryan also draw strength from the support they give each other.
Sometimes the feedback is very forthright and that can be a bit soul-destroying,admits Samantha Bryan.
But you can tell it always comes from the heart. It comes from a desire to support you. SPRIND wants you to succeed 100 per cent.Patricia Parlevliet adds:
And what I really like is that there is very little bureaucracy and that SPRIND is very responsive.
Patricia Parlevliet and Samantha Bryan also draw strength from the support they give each other.
Samantha is a fantastic person. She is very analytical and passionate about the environment. And she really loves her microorganisms,says Patricia Parlevliet of her colleague.
Patricia is very caring, dedicated and courageous. She left a long career at Airbus because she developed a fascination for synthetic biology. I find that very inspiring,says Samantha Bryan.
From the first time I met her, I knew I wanted to work with her.
Patricia Parlevliet and Samantha Bryan work closely with the University of Nottingham. Originally, MATERI-8 was supposed to be an independent start-up. However, in spring 2025, it was decided to integrate part of the project into Samantha Bryan's company, 17Cicada Ltd, and to include Patricia Parlevliet in the management team as CEO.
The team still has a number of hurdles to overcome, but they are optimistic:
The team still has a number of hurdles to overcome, but they are optimistic:
Our next step is to increase biomass production. Then, in the fermentation step, we need to show how much carbon from the biomass actually ends up in the final product,explains Samantha Bryan. The team also wants to provide proof of concept for the antimicrobial coating.
And we need to show that the process we have in mind is economically viable for the products we end up selling. That's a key challenge,says Patricia Parlevliet.
What products do we sell and to whom? What price do we charge for them? And how does the size of the end market fit with the amount of starting material at the beginning?
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