Title : Biotech 01

Inspiration

Waste management is one of the most critical environmental challenges of the modern eraspan_1 span_1. Municipal, industrial, electronic, and biomass residues are generated continuously, causing pollution and resource depletionspan_2 span_2. Inspired by the core principles of a Circular Economy, "Biotech 01" was conceptualized to treat waste not as a disposal problem, but as a primary secondary resource to generate sustainable energy and materialsspan_3 span_3.

What it does

Developed by researcher MD. Abu Hujaif (Alexy Layho), "Biotech 01" is an integrated Waste-to-Resource framework designed to:

Classify and characterize diverse waste streams, including organic, industrial, dry residual, and electronic wastespan_4 span_4.
Convert organic fractions into bio-energy products such as biogas, biomethane, biohydrogen, and organic acids via anaerobic digestion and fermentationspan_5 span_5.
Transform non-recyclable dry waste into syngas, fuel intermediates, and carbon-based materials using thermochemical conversionspan_6 span_6.
Recover high-value secondary raw materials, chemicals, and metals from industrial and electronic waste under controlled biological and chemical pathwaysspan_7 span_7.

How we built it

The research framework combines methodologies from Environmental Biotechnology, Industrial Biotechnology, and Thermochemical Engineering at the University of Science and Technology, Chittagong (USTC)span_8 span_8. The multi-phase approach includes laboratory characterization, pathway selection, small-scale experimental testing, mass-energy balance evaluation, and safety optimizationspan_9 span_9.

Challenges we faced

Managing the vast heterogeneity of global waste compositions, preventing hazardous emission risks during conversion, and balancing thermodynamic efficiency while scaling multi-stream recovery technologiesspan_10 span_10.

What's next for Biotech 01

Validating laboratory-scale conversion efficiencies, refining analytical monitoring protocols for dangerous residues, and collaborating with industrial partners to pilot integrated waste-to-energy recovery facilitiesspan_11 span_11.