Edmonton-based bioplastics maker TerraVerdae gets funding to expand product development

Canadian biopolymer supplier TerraVerdae Bioworks Inc. has received $4.5 million in new funding to expand its product development facilities in Edmonton, Alta.

In a statement, the Edmonton-based company said the funding – which comes from Alberta Innovates, Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Growth Program, the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program, and other investors – will allow it to enhance its in-house product development and equipment for production of industrial bioplastics used in the agricultural, forestry, food packaging, adhesives, and personal-care markets.

“We are supporting clean-tech innovations that strengthen our province’s traditional industries and help to launch new companies and products,” Laura Kilcrease, CEO of Alberta Innovates, said in the statement. “Besides forestry and agricultural plastics, the COVID-19 pandemic is driving retail demand for single-use plastics like grocery bags to reduce the risk of community transmission. Bioplastics convert renewable carbon sources into must-have products that help reduce waste plastic contamination; that’s a concrete example of innovation.”

TerraVerdae produces polyhydroxyalkanoate or PHA polymers, based on the use of such renewable carbon feedstocks as municipal and forestry waste or agricultural residues. The company’s product focus is films and coatings, thermoplastic moldings, adhesives and specialty PHAs. One product is a bioplastic pouch for tree seedlings that will be consumed by soil microbes and disappear within several months of planting in the forest. TerraVerdae plans to test launch the bioplastic pouches later this year for commercial use by foresters, to be followed by other bioplastic products for use in other sectors.

TerraVerdae was founded in 2009. In addition to its Edmonton location, the firm has also has a  product development facility in Charlottetown, P.E.I.