In previous episodes, we talked about mechanical recycling and inorganic chemical recycling. This time, we invited someone from another recycling domain - one that uses enzymes as chemical reaction catalysts. Unlike inorganic chemicals, enzymes are bio-based substances, namely proteins that reduce the activation energy of a reaction. The advantage is that enzymatic processes are relatively mild and can be very tuned to drive very specific chemical reactions.

Driven by his high school dream, Andrii Shekhirev, who has studied business and finance, came back to the biotechnology field by co-founding Enzymity.

Enzymity is a Latvian-based biotech start-up that aims to drive materials circularity by breaking down plastics into their building blocks through an enzymatic process. The start-up focuses to use a tool kit in engineering naturally occurring enzymes, improving them and seeking commercialization with industrial partnerships.

During the discussion, we also heard Andrii's perspective on the financial aspect of the business, and the development of the start-up environment in Latvia. He also agreed with us that solving the plastic problem requires a mix of solutions, and hoped that Enzymity will become a part of it!

 You can find out more about Enzimity at https://enzymity.com/ or reach out to Andrii via LinkedIn.