New centre to stop the waste of biological materials

HARNESSING natural bioprocesses to benefit industry and the environment is the core business of a new research centre based at Murdoch University funded under the Cooperative Research Centre's program.

The Environmental Biotechnology CRC (EBCRC) will begin operation on 1 July 2003, and will aim to establish environmental biotechnology as a mainstream sector in the biotechnology industry.

“The opportunity to transform wastes and byproducts into valuable resources using biotechnology represents the next breakthrough in environmental management,” said Mr Ian Kiernan AO, Bid Chairman for EBCRC.

Murdoch University is a partner in the new Centre, contributing expertise for projects such as:

• The development of a highly efficient, rapid and low energy system for organic recovery. The system uses microbial agents similar to that found in the rumen of cattle and sheep to breakdown organic matter to produce a range of products including precursors for high-value products, biogas and compost;
• The development of new biological wastewater treatment technologies that use the understanding of anoxic microbial metabolism for the development of more effective and cheaper wastewater treatment plants. Such plants could be operated where otherwise waste water treatment technology would be too energy expensive, and hence help combating increasing levels of pollution and water borne disease;
• Low cost on-site methods for detecting whether drinking water is contaminated by pathogens, based on gas produced by faecal dwelling bacteria.

EBCRC will receive $19.5 million spread over seven years from the CRC Program, and cash and in-kind contributions from participants and income from other sources will bring the CRC’s total budget over its programmed life to about $80 million.