Team:Virginia

For a more sustainable future!

Abstract

Around the globe, petroleum-based plastics are produced, consumed, and discarded at an unsustainable rate. The consequent accumulation of plastic waste wreaks havoc on our planet and seriously threatens human and environmental health. Nonetheless, material properties of plastic fill an important role in the modern world and our society is dependent on the convenience of its use. Transfoam is a multi-use biological device that consumes monomerized polystyrene waste and produces PHBs, a biodegradable plastic. Transfoam completes this conversion through combining the sty sequence from Cuprividus necator and the pha sequence from Pseudamonas putida with the native paa sequence of our chassis E. coli K-12. Our device is coupled with a human practices initiative that is promoting legislative change and environmental literacy. With our device reducing polystyrene waste and producing a biodegradable plastic alternative and our human practices advocating for mindful material management, Transfoam propels us toward a more sustainable future.

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