Latest / The Manufacturing Podcast with Fexingo: Factories, Supply Chains, and Industrial Business / How a Dutch Factory Turns Cow Manure into Bioplastics
Transcript
- Lucas: So last week I was in the Netherlands, about 50 kilometers east of Amsterdam, standing on a mezzanine overlooking a processing line that smells exactly like you'd expect a line processing cow manure to smell. Luna: Okay, I have to ask — is it as bad as I'm imagining? Lucas: Worse, honestly. But the remarkable thing is what comes out the other end. The factory takes in about a hundred thousand tons of manure per year — from dairy farms within a 30-kilometer radius — and turns it into biodegradable plastic pellets. Luna: Wait — you're saying they're making plastic from cow poop? Lucas: That's exactly what I'm saying. The company is called Sunchem — they've been working on this for about a decade. And the core technology is basically a very advanced fermentation process. They extract the cellulose and sugars from the manure, feed it to specially engineered bacteria that produce lactic acid, then polymerize that into polylactic acid — PLA — which is the same bioplastic used in compostable cups and packaging. Luna: So it's essentially the same chemistry as corn-based PLA, but the feedstock is waste instead of a food crop. Lucas: Exactly right. And that's the whole point. Corn-based PLA has been criticized because it uses land that could grow food. Manure is — well, there's no shortage of it. The Netherlands has one of the highest livestock densities in Europe. Dairy farms produce way more manure than they can safely spread on fields, and it's a real environmental problem — excess nitrogen, methane emissions, water pollution. Luna: So the factory is solving two problems at once: waste disposal and plastic production. Lucas: That's the pitch. And the numbers are interesting. The factory produces about 10,000 tons of bioplastic per year. That's modest compared to a big petrochemical plant, but it's a proof of concept. And the economics are actually viable, partly because the manure itself is essentially free — in fact, farmers pay to have it hauled away. So the feedstock cost is negative. Luna: Negative cost — meaning the factory gets paid to take the waste. Lucas: Yes. The farmers avoid manure disposal fees, and the factory gets a raw material that costs nothing — plus it can sell the bioplastic at a premium. PLA currently trades at around $2,000 to $2,500 per ton, compared to about $1,200 for conventional PET plastic. So the margin is attractive. Luna: But how does the environmental footprint compare? Manure-based PLA versus petroleum plastic? Lucas: That's where it gets compelling. A life-cycle analysis commissioned by the company found that their process reduces greenhouse gas emissions by about 80 percent compared to conventional plastic — and that's including the methane that would have been released if the manure had just been left in lagoons. So it's actually carbon-negative on the feedstock side. Luna: Eighty percent — that's significant. But are there any downsides? Lucas: A few. First, the scale: 10,000 tons is a drop in the ocean. Global plastic production is over 400 million tons per year. Second, PLA isn't a perfect substitute — it has lower heat resistance, so you can't put hot coffee in a PLA cup. And third, the economics depend on the manure being essentially free, which works in the Netherlands because of the manure surplus, but might not work everywhere. Luna: Still, it's a clever use of a waste stream that's literally a problem. And speaks to the broader trend of factories rethinking their feedstock. Lucas: Right. And it's worth saying: these conversations we do on this show — digging into how one factory in one country is solving a specific problem — they take time and effort to research and produce. We keep the show ad-free because we believe in the value of focused, concrete stories. If these episodes have given you a new angle on your own work, or just made you think differently about manufacturing, a couple of dollars a month at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo genuinely makes a difference. It keeps us going without resorting to sponsored segments. Luna: Yeah, and it's really modest — the price of a coffee. If you've gotten something out of the show, it's a great way to support the work we do. Lucas: Exactly. So back to the Netherlands — the factory also had to solve an interesting engineering challenge. Manure is about 90 percent water, so you have to separate the solids and liquids first. They use a centrifuge system to extract the fibrous solids, then a series of filters to purify the liquid fraction for fermentation. Luna: So it's not as simple as just dumping manure into a fermenter. Lucas: No, it's a multi-step process. First, separation. Then the liquid goes into an anaerobic digester to produce biogas — which powers the factory. The solids are further processed to extract cellulose, which is broken down into sugars. Those sugars go into a fermentation tank with the bacteria. Then the lactic acid is purified through distillation and converted into lactide, which is polymerized into PLA. Luna: So the factory is essentially a biorefinery — producing energy, chemicals, and plastic from one waste stream. Lucas: That's exactly the right word. And they've designed it to be modular. The company's CEO told me they want to license the technology to other regions with livestock density problems — think Denmark, Ireland, parts of the US Midwest. The idea is you build a processing unit that's sized to the local manure supply. Luna: That could scale. If you can replicate this model in multiple regions, you start to get meaningful volumes. Lucas: Right. And the technology isn't limited to manure. The same fermentation platform can use other agricultural residues — corn stover, wheat straw, sugar beet pulp. So there's a pathway to a whole family of region-specific bioplastics. Luna: What about the end of life? PLA is compostable, but only in industrial composting facilities, not in your backyard. Lucas: That's a fair point. PLA requires temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius to break down, which home compost piles don't reach. So it needs to go to an industrial composter. But the company argues that even if it ends up in a landfill, the carbon footprint is still lower than petroleum plastic because the carbon in the PLA comes from the atmosphere, not from fossil fuels. Luna: So it's a net improvement, even if the recycling infrastructure isn't perfect. Lucas: Yes, and they're working on making the PLA fully home-compostable by tweaking the polymer structure. But that's still in R&D. For now, the focus is on scaling production and bringing down costs. Luna: What's the biggest challenge to scaling? Lucas: Consistency of the feedstock. Manure composition varies with diet, season, and farm management. The bacteria are sensitive to that. So the factory has to blend manure from multiple farms to maintain a consistent input. That requires logistics — coordinating collection schedules and storage. It's not trivial. Luna: But they've been running for a few years now, so they've figured out the kinks. Lucas: They have. And they're profitable, which is the ultimate proof. The CEO told me the plant reached positive EBITDA in its third year of operation. That's pretty fast for a first-of-its-kind facility. Luna: That's encouraging. It suggests the model can work without subsidies, at least in the right context. Lucas: Exactly. And that's what makes it a compelling story for manufacturing. It's not a lab experiment — it's a real factory making a real product that competes on price and performance, at least in certain applications. Luna: So where do they sell the bioplastic? Lucas: Mostly to packaging companies in Europe. Think film wraps for produce, trays for meat, compostable bags. Some of it goes to 3D printing filament makers. And they're exploring higher-value applications like medical devices, where biodegradability is a plus. Luna: I'm curious — did you get to see the actual plastic pellets coming out? Lucas: I did. They look exactly like conventional plastic pellets — small translucent beads. You'd never guess they started as manure. The smell is gone by that point. The whole downstream section of the factory is clean and odorless. Luna: So the transformation is complete. Lucas: Complete. And it's a great example of how manufacturing can turn a liability into an asset. The question is whether this can scale beyond niche applications. I think the next five years will tell. If Sunchem can build a second plant in a different region, that will be a strong signal. Luna: Are there other companies doing similar things? Lucas: A few. There's a company in Canada called Agri-Plastics that's working on manure-based polyurethane. And a startup in New Zealand is making bioplastic from sheep wool waste. But Sunchem is the furthest along in terms of commercial production. They've got the first mover advantage in this specific niche. Luna: It's nice to hear a manufacturing success story that's also an environmental win. Lucas: It is. And it's a reminder that innovation often happens at the intersection of two problems — in this case, waste management and plastic production. The factory is basically a solution to both. Luna: So what's next for Sunchem? Lucas: They're raising capital for a second plant, likely in Ireland, where there's also a manure surplus. And they're developing a new grade of PLA that can withstand higher temperatures — up to 120 degrees Celsius. That would open up hot-fill applications like soup containers. Luna: That would be a game changer if they can pull it off. Lucas: It would. And it shows that the technology isn't static. They're iterating. That's the thing about manufacturing — it's not a one-time invention, it's continuous improvement. Luna: Well, I'll be following their progress. Thanks for bringing this story. Lucas: My pleasure. It's a good reminder that sometimes the best feedstock is the one you're already paying to get rid of.