Manoj Kumar1*, Unnikrishnan Kuzhiurnpararnbil1, Parijat Ray1, Lakshmi Krishnan1, Nicholas Hill2, Peter Ralph1
1Climate Change Cluster, Faculty of Science, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, Australia, Ultimo, NSW- 2007, 2Cost4C Limited, Cronulla, NSW 2230, Australia
*Corresponding Author: manoj.kumar@uts.edu.au
Abstract: Southeast Asian countries produce 5 million metric tonnes of plastic waste each year which has a profound impact on marine ecosystems. Marine pollution also threatens the livelihoods of over 50% (~3.35 million) of the globe’s artisanal reef fishers that live in Southeast Asia, compounding the detrimental effects of ever-declining fish stocks due to overfishing. Guided by our social conscience, and harnessing our unique expertise in algae biotechnology at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), we teamed up with COAST4C to build a bio-economy to incentivize coastal communities in the Philippines to restore their marine environment.
Together we are developing a novel green, sustainable, zero waste, and cost-effective technology for seaweed bio-refinery and seaweed-based biodegradable plastic production using green solvents. The deep eutectic solvents-based seaweed processing (DES) improved the de-sulfation and enhanced the yield and quality of carrageenan. Moreover, efficient recyclability and recovery of DESs after biomass pre-treatment and extracting fine chemicals from the residual biomass made the technology cost-effective for their use in seaweed-based bio-refineries. Therefore, the development of such green and sustainable technologies promises to provide a local solution to a local problem of marine pollution and poverty and to empower local communities to safeguard their marine estate.
Keywords: Seaweeds, Biodegradable Bioplastic, Bio-refinery, Green Solvents, Sustainability, Bioeconomy