We’re engineering enzymes to enable a high yield, sustainable, cost-effective plastic recycling process.
9% of plastic is recycled. We’re changing that.
Plastic recycling needs a better solution.
9% of plastic is recycled in the United States, a number unchanged over the past 15 years. Most recycled plastic is lower in quality and higher in cost than 'virgin' plastics from petrochemicals. Plastics are also the source of significant carbon emissions (~850M tons emitted each year).
We’re fixing this. Our recycling process uses enzymes to break down plastic naturally and efficiently. Unlike recycling today, our process yields virgin-quality, environmentally sustainable, and cost-competitive recycled outputs, truly enabling a ‘circular’ plastics economy.
Our technology
Our enzymes are the centerpiece of our recycling process. Our proprietary platform leverages Artificial Intelligence, bioinformatics, and high-throughput screening techniques to effectively engineer enzymes. Through our unique approach, we’re developing enzymes with the characteristics to enable a world-class industrial-scale plastic recycling process.
Our Partners
Join Our Team
Today, only 9% of plastic is recycled, and plastic demand is expected to triple by 2050, so our plastic problem is only going to get worse unless we do something about it.
Birch Biosciences is a startup company based in Portland, Oregon that engineers enzymes for plastic recycling using synthetic biology and machine learning. Our bio-enzymatic recycling process is low cost, high yield, and reduces CO2 emissions by > 50%.
We’re concerned about climate change, and are building a team of individuals who share our passion for solving this problem through close collaboration and a sense of urgency.
We’re building a different kind of company, where employees think like owners, act with authority, and collaborate closely with one another.