AI helps turn highschool project into world saving tech which promises to devour 150 tons of fast-fashion plastic each year

Protein molecules, illustration.

I'm a big fan of both weird cool tech and environmental conservation. These might sound like opposing ideas, but we deeply need more of both, especially if they're working together. In one of my favourite examples this week, a UK startup is working to make plastic eating enzymes to help deal with fast fashion.

TechCrunch recently profiled Epoch Biodesign, a company that's been working to take founder Jacob Nathan's highschool project worldwide. The startup has just received $18.3 million in Series A funding to graduate these plastic eating enzymes and hopefully send them off into the workforce. The funds are going to upscale and with the help of AI increase the production of the already developed enzymes. Epoch is forecasting to double in staff size this year, and have the first production run at commercial scale by 2028.