We turn PET plastic into ethanol.
PET is the plastic in nearly every water and soda bottle. We break it down with an enzyme and turn it into fuel-grade ethanol, the same fuel already blended into U.S. gasoline.
Flip over any water bottle. See the 1?
That 1 means PET, the plastic in nearly every drink bottle. It is the only thing our enzyme eats.
That 1 is also our logo: a fuel drop carrying the 1.
Most of those bottles never get recycled.
pounds of PET bottles in the U.S. were never collected for recycling in 2024. That is seven out of every ten. Most of it ends up in a landfill.
The dyed, dirty and mixed grades recyclers can’t sell are exactly what we want.
Source: NAPCOR 2024 PET Recycling Report, U.S. PET bottle recycling rate of 30.2% in 2024. Full numbers.
Bottle in, ethanol out.
Shred
We clean and shred post-consumer PET, including the dyed and dirty grades recyclers turn away.
Break down
Our enzyme, locked inside a porous framework, splits PET back into its building blocks in warm water.
Convert
We turn those building blocks into fuel-grade ethanol that blends straight into gasoline.
It runs in warm water instead of at refinery temperatures, and it uses no food crops.
That exact bottle went to the lab.
A store-bought 500 mL water bottle. We cut it open and punched it into discs, and those discs are what the enzyme broke down. No lab-grade film, no pre-treated powder. Real bottle plastic.
The hard step already works on real bottles.
Our immobilized enzyme broke down post-consumer bottle PET on the first attempt, confirmed by HPLC at our research partner, a Tier 1 Texas research university.
try, on real high-crystallinity bottle plastic
of steady, linear breakdown
faster when we raised the temperature
Next on the bench: proving the same enzyme batch holds up across 50 reuse cycles. That is a target, not a result yet.
How the platform works.
Enzyme on a scaffold
Engineered PET-degrading enzymes held in a proprietary porous framework. Loading near 100%, with full activity retained on real PET.
Spiral-flow reactor
A continuous spiral channel keeps plastic, catalyst and liquid in contact, cuts dead zones and scales by adding modules.
One integrated process
Breakdown, conversion and ethanol recovery run as one system, so the plant sells fuel instead of a low-value chemical.
PET-degrading enzymes are published science and we don’t claim them. Our patent-pending work is the immobilization system, the reactor and the integrated process (U.S. provisional 63/848,456).
Ethanol is already in most U.S. gasoline.
No new engines, no new pumps, no new customer habit. Our ethanol is a drop-in product for a market that exists today, and our feedstock is waste.
gallons of fuel ethanol used in the U.S. in 2025. Ours goes into the same terminals, trucks and pumps.
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, Monthly Energy Review, Table 10.3.
We turn someone else’s trash into revenue.
Compact conversion units sit next to recyclers and waste hubs, so the plastic barely travels.
Ethanol
Sold to blenders, distributors and fleets. This is the base business.
Credits
Clean-fuel credits where the fuel qualifies. We treat them as upside until the fuel pathway is approved.
Licensing
The enzyme platform licensed for other polyester and waste-to-chemical uses.
Nine years in the fuel business.
Michael Ward, Founder and CEO. Service-disabled U.S. Army veteran. BBA in Finance, December 2026.
U.S. Army, logistics and instruction
wholesale fuel supply: blending, credit trading, terminals and distributors
“Most cleantech startups stall at getting gallons sold. That is the part I know best.”Michael Ward
Lab work runs under a sponsored research agreement with a Tier 1 Texas research university, in the group of a globally recognized materials chemist.
More about MichaelTwelve months from idea to working chemistry.
- Jun 2025Concept and simulation work begin
- Jul 2025U.S. provisional patent filed
- Nov 2025PlastiBioFuel LLC formed, SDVOSB verified
- Jan 2026Sponsored research agreement signed with a Texas research university
- 2026Real bottle PET broken down on the first attempt
- Now$50K raised. NSF and DOE SBIR proposals submitted.
From first reactor to first plant.
Now
First-article spiral reactor designed, with fabrication next. Enzyme reuse testing in the lab.
Next
Demonstration unit processing 10 to 20 metric tons of PET a month, producing several thousand gallons and the data for a full plant.
Then
First commercial plant at 5 to 10 million gallons a year, next to a major waste or recycling hub.
Offtake conversations are open with regional fuel blenders and fleet operators, tied to showing real gallons.
How we move this fast: two AI engineers on the prototype.
One AI designs and simulates the reactor. A second one tries to break every design. We approve only the changes that are clearly better, and the loop runs every day.
simulation runs before we touched the bench
added payroll. It runs on software we already pay for.
That is why the first bench attempt worked. The lab confirmed a design instead of searching for one.
We’re raising to build the first reactor.
The round pays for building and testing the first-article reactor, the next round of lab work, including our 50-cycle enzyme reuse target, and our first process engineer. Grants in review add non-dilutive upside.
Plastic, recycling and fuel, explained.
Sourced guides to the questions we get most.
What does the 1 on a plastic bottle mean?
The number in the triangle is a resin code, not a recycling promise. What #1 PET is, where it goes, and why the symbol confuses people.
The U.S. PET bottle recycling rate: the latest numbers
30.2 percent in 2024, down from 32.5 percent. The full numbers, the six-year trend, why it dipped, and what deposit states do differently.
Can plastic be turned into fuel?
Yes, three ways: pyrolysis, gasification and depolymerization. How each works, which plastics it suits, what it costs, and the carbon-credit question.
Enzymes that eat plastic: PETase, FAST-PETase and what comes next
From a bacterium at a Japanese bottle recycler to machine-learning-designed enzymes. What works, what doesn’t yet, and who is scaling it.
Questions.
What does PlastiBioFuel do?
We turn PET plastic, the plastic in water and soda bottles, into fuel-grade ethanol. An immobilized enzyme breaks the plastic into its building blocks in warm water, and we convert those building blocks into ethanol that blends into gasoline.
What kind of plastic does PlastiBioFuel use?
PET, resin code 1, from post-consumer bottles and packaging, including the dyed, dirty and mixed grades that mechanical recyclers turn away.
Is the ethanol a drop-in fuel?
Yes. Fuel-grade ethanol goes into the same terminals, trucks and pumps as the 14.3 billion gallons of fuel ethanol the U.S. used in 2025. Most U.S. gasoline is already about 10 percent ethanol.
Is the process proven?
The hard step is. Our immobilized enzyme broke down real post-consumer bottle PET on the first attempt, confirmed by HPLC, with steady breakdown through 24 hours. The first-article reactor is designed and fabrication is next. The company is pre-revenue.
Does PlastiBioFuel use food crops?
No. The feedstock is waste plastic, and the process runs in warm water instead of at refinery temperatures.
Is the technology patented?
A U.S. provisional patent application, 63/848,456, covers the immobilization system, the reactor and the integrated process. PET-degrading enzymes themselves are published science, and we don’t claim them.
Who runs PlastiBioFuel?
Michael Ward, Founder and CEO, a service-disabled U.S. Army veteran with 12 years of service and nine years in wholesale fuel supply. PlastiBioFuel is a verified Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business based in Fort Worth, Texas.
Work with us.
Tell us which one you are and the conversation starts in the right place.
Investors
Lab results on real bottle PET, a provisional patent, and federal non-dilutive funding running alongside private capital.
Request the investor briefFuel buyers and distributors
Fuel-grade ethanol from a waste feedstock. The founder ran wholesale fuel supply for nine years and speaks your language.
Start an offtake conversationWaste and feedstock suppliers
We want the bales mechanical recyclers reject: mixed, dyed and contaminated PET. Tell us what you have and where it is.
Describe your feedstockResearch and technology partners
Enzyme and materials groups, reactor engineers and analytical labs. We already run a sponsored research program and know how to structure the next one.
Propose a collaborationFederal and state program officers
SDVOSB, SAM.gov registered. UEI KQAWZ54RDUM8, CAGE 175D6, NAICS 325199, 325193 and 541715.
Request the capability statementPress and speaking
Michael is available for interviews, panels and podcasts on plastic-to-fuel conversion and veteran entrepreneurship.
Contact for media