BusinessWire · Jun 2025
Birch announced a global patent license agreement with NREL to commercialize enzymatic PET deconstruction technology and integrate the downstream chemical process into its biocatalytic recycling platform.
We recycle plastic using engineered enzymes
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Birch Biosciences is a Portland-based biotech/cleantech startup founded in 2021 that develops AI-guided enzymatic plastic recycling technology to break plastics such as PET and polyurethane into reusable monomers and high-quality recycled resin.
Primary product
AI-guided enzymatic plastic recycling platform (engineered enzymes + biocatalytic recycling process)
Founded
2021
Headquarters
4023 NE Hancock St, Portland, Oregon 97212, United States
Team size
1-10
Industry
Biotechnology Research
Sub-industry
Cleantech / enzymatic plastic recycling
Offices
4023 NE Hancock St, Portland, Oregon 97212, United States
Business model
B2B partnerships
technology licensing
Funding
Stage
Seed
Total raised
$3.3M
Latest round
NSF SBIR Phase II · Sep 2024
Latest amount
$1M
Sep 2024 · National Science Foundation
Apr 2023 · U.S. Department of Energy
Sep 2022
Apr 2022 · National Science Foundation
DOE grant / mixed plastic recycling
Jan 2022 · U.S. Department of Energy
People & investors
Work & culture
Mission-driven, collaborative, community-oriented, multidisciplinary, and focused on sustainability and commercialization.
Product & market
Differentiators
- —AI-guided enzyme design
- —High-throughput design-build-test-learn workflow
- —Targets PET and polyurethane recycling
- —Aims for virgin-quality 100% recycled resin
- —Claims >70% GHG reduction
- —Low-temperature, green-chemistry process
- —Global patent license agreement with NREL
Technology
Generative AI
Machine learning
AWS cloud
Advanced enzyme engineering
High-throughput screening
Next-generation DNA sequencing
Microfluidics
High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)
Green chemistry
Biocatalytic recycling
PETase / polyurethanase enzyme development
Competitors
Epoch Biodesign
Samsara Eco
DePoly
Carbios
Protein Evolution
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
Less than $0.5M
Latest news
LinkedIn · Mar 2025
Birch said it won the Amazon Bedrock Builders' Challenge; the post highlights its AWS-backed AI-guided enzyme engineering platform and plastic recycling work.
NSF SBIR · Sep 2024
NSF awarded Birch a $1,000,000 SBIR Phase II grant for PET recycling enzyme development, describing the project as improving the economics, sustainability, and circularity of PET recycling.
U.S. DOE SBIR · Apr 2023
DOE awarded Birch a $1,649,992 SBIR Phase II project focused on engineered enzymes for polyurethane recycling.
NSF SBIR · Apr 2022
NSF awarded Birch a $255,840 SBIR Phase I project to develop enzyme-mediated plastic recycling for PET and PE plastics.
Jobs and careers at Birch Biosciences
0 jobs at Birch Biosciences
No open positions
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