Welcome to the The Sadler Lab!
Upcycling plastic waste into high value chemicals
Harnessing the power of microbes to upcyle waste
Biotechnology for Plastics Sustainability
The Sadler Lab
We are a multidisciplinary group at the University of Edinburgh with a shared goal of developing sustainable, bio-based technologies to drive a more sustainable future for the chemicals industry. With a particular focus on plastics sustainability, we combine synthetic biology, protein discovery and engineering and organic chemistry to develop waste upcycling routes to chemicals currently produced from fossil fuels.
Research Themes
Sustainable Chemicals
We are developing new routes to synthesise platform chemicals from waste feedstocks using engineered microbes. This includes monomers for plastic synthetis, bulk solvents and aroma compounds.
Plastic Degradation
We are exploring novel approaches for polymer degradation which can be interfaced directly with upcycling pathways.
Plastic Upcycling
We are engineering new microbial cell factories capable of converting post-consumer plastic waste into useful chemicals,which would otherwise be synthesised directly from oil. This includes aroma compounds and bulk solvents.