A public-private partnership sets out to build a post-plastic innovation center at CSUMB.

It sounds like sci-fi, but if Andrew Falcon, CEO of Full Cycle Bioplastics, has his way, it will be reality. His company makes polyhydroxyalkanoate or PHA, using a two-step process: First, organic waste is dissolved in large tanks resembling a wastewater treatment system, and bacteria are set loose to consume it. The bacteria produce what Falcon calls “nature’s plastic.” Step two is to take that—in powder form—and convert it into pellets, which can be sold to manufacturers of everything from to-go boxes to cutlery. 

The startup has borrowed lab space at universities from Ohio State to Chico State, but one thing is missing: a place where they can fine-tune commercial prototypes. “It’s a really critical piece of the chain,” Falcon says. 

That’s where the Sam Farr Innovation Center comes in, named after the former congressman who was outspoken about plastic pollution. The vision is to create a lab on CSU Monterey Bay’s campus for commercialization, inviting businesses for long stretches to work on everything from cups to bags for salad. The equipment will support a theme: the so-called new plastics economy, in which packaging is made from renewable materials, like bacteria byproducts. 

It’s the brainchild of Daniella Russo, co-founder and CEO of Think Beyond Plastic, which has offices in Carmel Valley but works with bioplastics manufacturers all over the world. Russo spent about a year talking to Larry Samuels, senior adviser to the president at CSUMB, and the partners will formally announce their plans to build an innovation center Sept. 22. Russo expects the place to be open in 2018. 

“There is a ton of research on alternative packaging, but few places to test commercial scalability,” she says. “There is no place like this.”