Company Spotlight: Birch Biosciences
Founded in 2022, Birch Biosciences is developing cutting-edge technology to address one of the world’s most challenging sustainability issues: plastic recycling. Envisioning a future where plastic is “infinitely recycled” through an energy efficient, economically sustainable process, Birch Biosciences is on the cusp of an environmental revolution—all from its headquarters right here in Portland.
We spoke with Johan Kers, Co-Founder & CEO, and Emily Duncan, Co-Founder and COO, at the Birch Biosciences laboratory and recycling space in Central Eastside Portland.
Q: Explain what Birch Biosciences does.
Johan Kers: We’re reinventing how plastics are recycled using enzymes, which you can think of as nature’s molecular scissors. These enzymes break down plastics into small chemical building blocks, which can then be used to create high quality, 100% recycled plastics. At Birch, we use artificial intelligence to design these high-performance enzymes. We’re excited that this technology enables recycled plastic to compete on price with virgin plastic manufactured from fossil fuels while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 70%. It’s all about making plastic recycling truly economical and circular.
Q: Why is this the right moment for this particular technology?
Emily Duncan: Right now, we’re experiencing an exciting convergence of advanced AI technology and growing environmental awareness. AI has enabled us to design enzymes in new and exciting ways, with incredible precision and efficiency. At the same time, new recycling legislation, corporate sustainability mandates, and strong consumer demand for recycled products mean the world is ready for a solution like ours. We’re helping companies meet their sustainability goals without compromising quality or cost.
Q: Why build this business in Portland? Why not a more tech-centric city like San Francisco?
JK: Portland is home. Our families and community are here, and this city aligns perfectly with our mission. Having worked in places like San Francisco and Boston, it’s hard to imagine a better place than Portland to build a cleantech company. I can’t think of anything more on-brand for the state of Oregon than to reinvent the future of plastic recycling right here.
ED: Exactly, community is huge for us. Portlanders genuinely care about sustainability, and there’s a lot of enthusiasm around our mission. People here actively support our efforts and are excited about bringing their plastics to us for recycling!
JK: And there are actually benefits to being in a smaller market city. True, there are fewer resources here, but that means that we are a bit more creative and have learned to collaborate with other local companies by sharing equipment, grant writing know-how, and other resources. We are mission driven, and there’s a real circle of like-minded founders who are intentional about building a real community of startups here.
Q: Can you go into more detail about what sets this technology apart from traditional plastic recycling?
JK: Historically, plastic recycling has suffered from poor economics and circularity. Traditional recycling often results in material being “downcycled”—like turning food-grade containers into textiles—which doesn’t solve the root problem of plastic manufacturing from fossil fuels. Our technology simplifies the plastic recycling process, and reduces the energy, greenhouse gas emissions, and cost required to manufacture 100% recycled content plastics.
ED: Enzymes do most of the heavy lifting in this recycling process, and act as “molecular scissors” to chop up plastics into small chemical building block molecules. This simplifies removal of impurities including other plastics, labels or colorants. Enzymatic recycling will eliminate the need to use most fossil fuel-derived plastic in the future. With our technology, plastics can be infinitely recycled into high-quality, food-safe packaging, truly closing the recycling loop.
Q: Tell us about the new Birch Biosciences space.
ED: Our new space is in Portland’s Central Eastside district. It’s a 6,500 square feet office and R&D laboratory facility. The best part is, there’s enough space to expand into a larger-scale recycling operation.
JK: That’s the main reason that we moved to this space: so that we can grow as a company and scale our technology to a one-ton per day end-to-end recycling process. At that scale, we can clearly show our enzyme technology works efficiently with all PET packaging. Proving our process at this level is a big step toward commercializing and expanding our impact.
Q: What’s your ultimate vision for the company?
JK: Our vision is to have Birch recycling facilities next to every major city, enabling local plastic recycling. Today, plastics are often trucked hundreds or thousands of miles from consumers to very large scale, regional recycling facilities. We want to change that by creating small, efficient recycling plants that reduce the environmental footprint of plastic processing. Plastics are the 6th largest US manufacturing industry, and our technology will help build a truly circular economy—recycling plastics repeatedly without fossil fuels, reducing emissions, and energy use.
ED: Additionally, we plan to build out a catalog of enzymes for recycling other types of plastic beyond PET, solving recycling challenges for complex polymers that currently have no solutions.
Q: If people reading this are interested in supporting your work, how best can they help?
JK: We encourage everyone to speak to their legislators about supporting clean technology growth here in Oregon. How amazing would it be to build the next generation of companies that are reinventing old industries right here? It won’t happen if we don’t actively invest in building ecosystems that enable companies to incubate and then grow and create jobs for the next generation who care so deeply about environmental causes.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like people to know?
JK: Many people are understandably worried about plastic pollution and recycling inefficiencies. We share those concerns. But we really want to communicate hope about this problem. We’re very close to delivering a breakthrough technology that will make a significant difference. Beyond the environmental benefits, our work will create jobs, boost local economies, and foster stronger communities. For our entire team, our mission is personal. We want to fix the problem. And what better way to spend our careers than solving one of the world’s biggest sustainability issues?
Group picture at the top (left to right) Miles Gander, Emily Duncan, Megan Brann, and Johan Kers | Photography by Sheepscot Creative