AC Biode is receiving accolades for 2 different technologies.
First, they to solve the world’s plastic waste problem with their catalysts which carbonize organic waste mixed with plastic on-site and reduce greenhouse gas emission by 50%
It’s common knowledge these days that plastic is a big part of the waste stream. According to the United Nations (2018), only around 9% of the 6.3 billion tons of plastic waste that has been produced has been recycled over the last 65 years. Plastic waste pollutes our water, air, and food and has been found everywhere from the deepest parts of the ocean to a whale’s stomach. There are mainly three methods of recycling plastic waste: Mechanical recycling, thermal recycling, and chemical recycling. A lot of plastic waste is, however, hard to recycle because it is mixed, contaminated, multi-layered and thus no longer mechanically recyclable. Thermal recycling is high in GHG emissions, has a large CAPEX and OPEX, utilizes centralized systems and needs around 1,000 degrees C to minimize dioxin and tar.
Chemical recycling can recycle the non-recyclable, turning the most difficult-to-recycle plastics into fuels, carbon, or virgin plastic rather than sending them to incinerators or landfills. This form of recycling can take waste and transform it to create a circular economy. Capitalizing on the team’s 60 years of experience and 5 years of research, AC Biode is developing catalysts that will take chemical recycling to the next level: “Plastalyst” is to decompose plastics quite efficiently on-site from polymer to monomer, such as from PE to ethylene gas or propyrene gas.
AC Biode’s second technological innovation aims to develop the world’s first standalone AC (Alternating Current) Li-ion batteries, instead of DC (Direct Current). Applications are for mobility and energy storage. In 2021, AC Biode will pilot with industrial drones and progress further. They received investment from KIC InnoEnergy of EIT, a body of the EU, and a public grant in Japan to accelerate their R&D.
INAM met AC Biode CEO, Tadashi Kubo, through our friends and partners at CROSSBIE (namely Chika Yamamoto) who are trying to bridge the gap between Japan and Berlin. AC Biode took part in AdMaCamp at the beginning of this year as well as the Open Innovation Challenge that was organized together with Good Stuff Ventures and Hoyer Handel GmbH where the team was short-listed and recognized for their innovative technology.
Currently, AC Biode is looking for 1) potential clients or local partners for the catalysts in Europe; and 2) potential technology collaborators on their AC battery system.
If you would like to collaborate with or learn more about AC Biode and their technologies, visit their website: https://www.acbiode.com/