Researcher Ravi Gupta patents cow poop PHB

In India, a researcher at Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University’s School of Earth and Environmental Science has received a patent for a method of producing bioplastic from cow manure and novel bacteria.

Ravi Gupta tells Times of India that the bioplastic, polyhydroxy butyrate, has already been made from other raw materials, but often at higher cost. By identifying a PHB-accumulating bacteria, he was able to produce PHB using very low-cost cow manure. “Petroleum-based synthetic plastic is one of the most widely used materials in daily life, leading to the accumulation of non-degradable waste that remains in the environment for thousands of years and contributes to plastic-induced pollution, which is also a leading cause of global warming,” he added.