https://video.igem.org/videos/watch/97c251b8-b17a-4b16-922f-4dd75bd1e269 Title: Tea to Bioplastic: A Tea-Waste-Driven Microbial Cell Factory for PHB Production Description: The rapid growth of the milk tea industry has generated large amounts of tea residue waste, while the widespread use of disposable plastic products continues to intensify environmental pollution. Although tea residues are rich in cellulose and polysaccharides, most are discarded without effective utilization. To address this challenge, we developed a sustainable “Tea-to-Bioplastic” platform that transforms tea waste into biodegradable PHB bioplastics. Through biomass pretreatment, complex polysaccharides in tea residues are converted into fermentable sugars, which are then utilized by metabolically engineered microbes to produce PHB. The resulting bioplastic can be further processed into disposable products such as drinking straws, creating a closed-loop system from tea waste to sustainable consumer goods. By integrating synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and circular economy principles, our project offers a green solution for waste valorization, plastic reduction, and sustainable biomanufacturing. Official Page Sat, 29 Aug 2026 17:17:21 GMT https://validator.w3.org/feed/docs/rss2.html PeerTube - https://video.igem.org https://video.igem.org/client/assets/images/icons/icon-1500x1500.png https://video.igem.org/videos/watch/97c251b8-b17a-4b16-922f-4dd75bd1e269 All rights reserved, unless otherwise specified in the terms specified at https://video.igem.org/about and potential licenses granted by each content's rightholder.