Meredian Bioplastics has formulated the technology and process to develop biodegradable plastics and Perry-McCall is retrofitting an existing warehouse into a functioning plant.
Environmental impact
Five reactors will be constructed over the next three years as well as sonification, 1,100 ton chillers, lysis holding tanks, sparging and a heat exchange system.
“We are extremely excited about the project, because they have found a way to clean up landfills,” said Wayne McCall, president, Perry-McCall.
“While it takes between 500-1000 years for petroleum to break down, these bioplastics only take five to six weeks. The environmental and economic impacts are huge, and for us being design contractors, the product Meredian produces can develop more business for us.”
Perry-McCall started working with the engineering and process development team at Meredian to create the design for its facility in August last year.
After eight months of studying the process and working on the design, the internal group of Perry-McCall approached McCall about the company itself investing in the project.
After the preliminary design was completed in April, the engineering and construction firm spoke to Paul Pereira, executive chairman, Meredian about the proposal.
FDA approval
Meredian’s biopolymer has been at the forefront of science recently wining FDA approval for Food Substance Contact, harvesting the first crop of canola to be used to create the PHA and partnering with Tate and Lyle to demonstrate how its technology can be manufactured on a mass scale.
It has received four certifications and two statements from Vinçotte International confirming its PHA formula is biodegradable in six mediums.
“As part of our validation of proof of concept and business model we addressed scalability with Tate and Lyle and modularity and build-out with Perry-McCall,” added Pereira.
“Our model has been validated every step of the way by third party credible professional organizations.”