10069133The first fully biobased and biodegradable textile coating delivered from scalable engineered bacteria extracts to support affordable sustainable fashionClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UKMethane is 84 times more potent a Greenhouse Gas (GHG) than CO2\. The International Energy Agency estimates that the oil and gas sector emitted 82 Mt (around 2.5 GtCO2-eq) methane in 2019\. Methane is a promising next-generation carbon feedstock in industrial biotechnology due to its economic scale-up potential. Biomethane produced from waste is treated as biogenic and is not considered to contribute to GHG emissions. The only natural method for biological conversion of methane to a value-added product is use methanotrophic strains as biocatalysts because methanotrophs can utilise methane as the sole carbon source. Algreen engineers methanotroph as a model strain and introduced non-native pathways to produce cadaverine from biomethane. Cadaverine is an important building block for fully biobased and biodegradable polyurethane. Conventional polyurethane from fossil fuel represents 8% of world plastics and is used in fashion for waterproof coatings for outdoor wear. The plastic coating mixed with textile fibres increases the carbon footprint of the fashion industry and prevents recycling Global textile waste increased from 92 million tonnes in 2017 to more than 134 million tonnes in 2023\. They are either dumped into landfill or incinerated. Once in landfills, plastic impurities will remain indefinitely - but studies have found liquid waste leaching which also contain microplastics. The fashion industry accounts for 8-10% of global carbon emissions and reusing 1 kilogram of clothing saves 3.6 kg of CO2, 6,000 litres of water, 0.3 kg of chemical fertilisers and 0.2 kg of insecticides, compared with making garments from virgin resources. One group of researchers said their study provided evidence that "landfill isn't the final sink of plastics, but a potential source of microplastics". 40% of items produced by the clothing industry are unsold. These fashion items containing plastic ingredients are often shipped to other countries and dumped. There's an urgent need to find renewable textile raw materials, which are biodegradable and recyclable. Sustainable fashion should not just be for those who can afford it, but the default for the masses. Manufacturers and retailers are launching new price-competitive and sustainable fabric coating not only for high-end fashion, but also for the overall fashion industry. The current sustainable raw material costs 2-4 times more compared to non-sustainable raw materials. This limited those sustainable fashion materials to the high-end or sustainable fashion brands. Algreen aims to provide affordable raw materials by using bioengineering technology to support sustainable high street fashion.