Editor's Note

Bio-enzymatic hydrolysis technology is reshaping the recycling logic of waste PET plastics. From the laboratory to industrialization, this technology has broken the limitations of traditional physical recycling with disruptive innovation. This technological revolution from molecular reconstruction to industrial chain reshaping is leveraging a trillion-level green economic future.

Recently, Yuantian Biotechnology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. (Yuantian Biotechnology), the first company in China to successfully commercialize and industrialize the bio-enzymatic hydrolysis of waste PET plastics, announced the completion of nearly 100 million yuan in pre-A+ round of financing . Investors include Beiyang Haitang Fund, Shangshi Capital, Daotong Investment, Lianlong, Renai Group, etc. This round of financing will be used for the construction of a thousand-ton production line, product technology improvement and market expansion.

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Technological innovation: efficient and environmentally friendly bio-enzymatic hydrolysis

Yuantian Bio was established in October 2022 and is located in Tianjin Economic and Technological Development Zone. Relying on Tianjin University's full-industry chain biomanufacturing platform and ton-level pilot incubation base, it develops enzymatic regeneration technology for waste PET, realizes enzymatic production of recycled rPTA and industrialization of Rb-PET. Yuantian Bio's core technology revolves around "bioenzymatic regeneration of PET". Through independently developed efficient and specific PET degradation enzymes, it achieves the degradation and regeneration of waste PET under normal temperature and pressure conditions. The uniqueness of this technology is reflected in the following aspects:

1.Wide adaptability of raw materialsYuantian Bio's bio-enzymatic technology can process various types of PET-containing waste, including waste textiles (such as polyester clothing, shoe upper materials, carpets), PET bottles, films, etc., especially overcoming the recycling difficulties of dyed and blended textiles, and achieving efficient degradation of all categories of PET waste.

2. The reaction conditions are mild and under normal temperature and pressure. The entire production process adopts an all-water system, which has all-round competitiveness in terms of safety. For example, it has significant advantages in terms of production safety, employee operation safety, and product application safety.

3. Cost advantage: On the one hand, Yuantian Bio uses the scale effect to reduce unit costs with continuous, automated and intelligent large-scale production lines. On the other hand, it works hard on the industrial chain and technology iteration to promote standardized cooperation among upstream waste collection companies and iteratively improve the catalytic efficiency of enzymes.

4.Closed-loop circulation and high-value applications

Rb-PET can be reused to produce high value-added products such as textile fibers, food packaging, and engineering plastics. In May 2024, Yuantian Bio successfully produced the world's first enzymatically recycled T-shirts, sports shoes, PET bottle flakes and films, verifying the upgrade cycle path from "fiber to fiber" and "fiber to bottle".

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Industrial breakthrough: from laboratory to 10,000-ton mass production

From laboratory to 10,000-ton mass production is the touchstone of new technology - this process determines whether innovative technology can truly cross the "valley of death" and transform scientific research results into large-scale commercial value. Based on previous research, Yuantian Bio has successfully developed a high-performance PET enzyme mutant: on the one hand, it can achieve single enzyme hydrolysis, saving the cost of enzyme preparations and simplifying the PET enzymatic hydrolysis steps; on the other hand, it uses AI creation technology to achieve the tertiary structure reorganization of the enzyme and create a new enzyme, which increases the enzyme activity by 1920 times and improves the enzyme catalytic efficiency.

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Market recognition: commercial application and global cooperation

1. Capacity construction In November 2024, Tianjin Binhai's 300 tons/year rPTA production line was officially put into operation, becoming the world's first continuous production line for bio-based PET recycling. It is planned to complete a 5,000-ton production line by the end of 2025 and advance towards the target of 30,000 tons/year production capacity.
2. Commercial cooperation Since the quality of Yuantian Bio's products can reach the level of original materials, there is no problem with commercial application. The downstream application fields are wide, and more than 20 downstream customers and brands are conducting product verification and have obtained several commercial orders. Yuantian Bio's innovatively launched the world's first bio-enzyme regenerated PET (rb-PET) solution. After the authoritative test of SGS, rb-PET chips did not detect bisphenol A (detection limit <1ppm) , providing a safer and lower-carbon option for food-grade packaging!

Cooperated with Huahao Chemical to develop high-end recycled polyester, and won the world's first 1,000-ton order for bio-enzyme recycled polyester.

3. Technological innovation breakthroughs solve the problem of separating polyester and cotton blends: Through the use of highly specific enzymes to accurately degrade PET and retain the integrity of cotton fibers, we work with partners to open up the "waste cotton → HMF (5-hydroxymethylfurfural) → FDCA (2,5-furandicarboxylic acid)" technical path , which not only solves the problem of separating polyester and cotton, but also provides non-grain raw materials for bio-based FDCA, avoiding "competing with grain for land."
4. Expanding industrial applications: Yuantian Bio is still exploring industrial silk products. At present, the enzymatic hydrolysis of automotive airbag silk has been successfully verified, and it is expected to realize the "car to car" automotive plastic cycle; the company's enzymatic regeneration chip spinning of high-strength silk has also been realized, enriching the industrial silk application end of the company's products.