Developing Mixed Microbial Populations for Industrial Sidestream Conversion into Textile Dyes and Wider Bio-Products

Biomanufacturing using yeast/bacteria and precision fermentation processes is a powerful approach that can displace manufacturing processes that are currently extremely polluting and destructive such as fossil fuel extraction, non-degradable plastic production and intensive animal agriculture. But these harmful industries have decades of infrastructure, economies-of-scale and subsidisation behind them, making the commercial optimisation of biomanufacturing processes to achieve price parity on existing markets a huge challenge for biomanufacturers across all sectors.

One way that commercial viability can be achieved is through using cheaper raw materials to feed into precision fermentation processes. Currently, the majority of biomanufacturers use virgin sugars as their feedstocks. These can make up almost 50% of overall biomanufacturing cost, and they also create competition with other markets where these sugars could arguably be better used, for example going directly into existing food manufacturing chains. In this project, Evolutor will use its proprietary microbe optimisation technology platform to develop entirely new microbial systems that can effectively utilise industrial side streams as fermentation feedstocks better than any existing microbial solutions.

Side streams are challenging to capture as biomanufacturing feedstocks as they are generally complex, impure and inconsistent, making reliable fermentation difficult. But over 500M tonnes of waste goes to landfill or is incinerated every year (an estimated economic loss of $720B). With Evolutor's new microbe developments, we will unlock side stream valorisation for biomanufacturing on a global scale, pushing our economies closer to a much needed Bio-Industrial Revolution.

To demonstrate the power of our new microbes in the first instance, we are partnering with Faber Futures. Faber are developing their "Project Coelicolor" to produce bacterial textile dyes and decentralise the production of high-quality, sustainable garments. By allowing them to use currently wasted or under-valorised side streams as raw materials for this dye production, this project will push Faber Futures' fabrics to market in late 2023 and fulfil their mission of building textile biomanufacturing supply chains that are entirely **ethical, equitable and sustainable** from end-to-end.