Norbite utilizes an insect-based biorefinery to convert 300 million tons of plastic waste into sustainable products. This process addresses the global plastic pollution crisis by transforming waste into valuable goods, reducing environmental impact and promoting circular economy practices.
Funding
$920K raised to dateRaised to date based on public sources. This may differ from the amount the company actually raised and is based only on what is publicly available on the internet.
Founders
Product
Problem
The accumulation of plastic waste poses a significant environmental threat, with hundreds of millions of tons polluting ecosystems and requiring sustainable solutions for its management. Traditional recycling methods often struggle to process complex or contaminated plastic waste streams, leading to landfill accumulation or incineration.
Solution
Norbite offers an insect-based biorefinery solution that converts plastic waste into valuable, sustainable goods. The company leverages the Galleria mellonella (wax moth larvae), which possesses the natural ability to digest plastic polymers. Through proprietary vertical farming technology, Norbite cultivates these larvae at an industrial scale, enabling them to efficiently break down plastic waste. The resulting bio-refined larvae yield a range of products, including proteins for food and feed applications, antimicrobial peptides to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria, and elicitors to enhance plant defenses, reducing the need for pesticides. Furthermore, the insect dejections are repurposed as biofertilizers, creating a closed-loop, circular economy system.
Target Audience
Norbite's target audience includes waste management companies, recycling facilities, agricultural businesses, and food and feed producers seeking sustainable and circular solutions for plastic waste upcycling and resource recovery.
Features
- Proprietary vertical farming technology for industrial-scale insect cultivation
- Biorefinery process to extract valuable components from plastic-consuming larvae
- Production of proteins for use in food and animal feed
- Extraction of antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to combat multidrug-resistant bacteria
- Generation of elicitors for reinforcing natural plant defenses
- Conversion of insect dejections into biofertilizers
- Digestion of complex waste streams, including textile waste