TED Talks Daily
The brilliance of bacteria (and how they combat waste) | Patricia Aymà Maldonado
16 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. Today's talk is part of our new TED Fellows Films, adapted for podcasts just for our TED Talks Daily listeners.
This is part of a special series of episodes we release throughout the year, showcasing the incredible stories behind the TED Fellows program, which supports a network of global innovators. Today, we'd like you to meet biotechnologist Patricia Aima Maldonado.
Patricia is a self-described bacteria trainer who thinks that these tiny microorganisms that are impossible to see with the naked eye are actually Earth's greatest superheroes.
She presents a groundbreaking technology that trains bacteria to transform organic waste into biodegradable plastic that behaves like the real thing and digs into why this sustainable approach could revolutionize the plastics industry. After we hear from Patricia, stick around for her conversation with TED Fellows Program Director Lily James-Olds.
I remember all my childhood being at the doctor and my freaking pneumonia were due to bacteria. At high school, I went to a natural science fair and I met two older students that they told me that they were like modifying bacteria for producing proteins and solve hunger in the world. And that scenario just changed my life because I didn't know the potential of bacteria.
They are the most special creature on earth because they are super powerful. They just can kill you or save you in a second. I am Patricia Imam Maldonado and I am a bacteria trainer. In 2018, I founded the company. We are producing a biodegradable bioplastic with bacteria that eat organic waste. I think that plastic isn't a problem itself.
It's how we produce it, how we use it, and how we dispose of it. Plastic is crucial for different social, technological, and medical advancements. We use it in whatever you can think. Plastic is light. Plastic is soft. Plastic is flexible. And it has a very good performance that not other products can give. We need plastic. Traditional plastic is extracted from petrol sources.
Petrol-based plastics stick around for a long time. And only 9% of the plastic in the world is recycled. 90% of the plastic is incinerated. And 50% goes to landfills. When it gets recycled, it loses quality. So it is quite important to mix it again with virgin plastic in order to have the best application of the product.
When I mean virgin plastic, I mean the plastic that is extracted for the first time from this fraction of the petroleum. Data from 2023, it shows that extraction of virgin plastic has increased. So that means that we are promoting recycling and also virgin production plastic is increasing. So it is the perfect illusion of sustainability.
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Chapter 2: What groundbreaking technology does Patricia Aymà Maldonado introduce?
We work with agri-food companies, for example a beer production company. And they give to us the leftover or the spent yeast from the beer production. At first stage, we have a group of bacterias that cook the waste, okay? They are like the chef. And they cook the waste so that it's like really tasty.
For a second stage, another one group of bacteria take that tasty waste and produce the bioplastic. And at the end, we obtain the bioplastic. This is a thing that some kind of bacteria can do, not all the bacteria can do, and it's an adaptive survival skill. You have to ask bacteria for doing something, and she will do it. For me, bacteria is a girl, okay? So it's a super girl.
We work with a system that is installed there where the waste is generated in the customer facilities, and we start taking the waste directly into our model, our box. And that is working 24 hours a day. It is a new scenario for companies working with us. They go from managing a waste into having a real benefit, a real value, because they do not have to change machines.
They have to change the mentality. Right now, We're already treating three tons of spent yeast in a day. We take 300 grams of spent yeast to produce one kilo of our bioplastic. It has the same appearance and it behaves really similar. It means that it can melt, it can flow, it can enter in the machines, it can give you, like, strength, you know?
And you just can make the same products as petrol-based plastics. Right now, this bioplastic is already working in luxury, like the perfume, the cosmetics, healthcare, whatever you can imagine, with a plastic that behaves as a petrol-based plastic, you know? If you throw the plastic away, I don't want you to do that, by the way. I want you to separate properly.
But if you do it, then we can expect that bioplastic gets to the marine environment. And maybe... In four months, it can biodegrade in 90%, depending on the width that the bioplastic has. You cannot make microplastics with bioplastics. It is organic. It breaks naturally, like in small compounds, and is food for other bacteria, for other microorganisms.
This bacteria, right now, and having our plant already functioning, working with three tons of organic waste a day, transforming this into bioplastic, it puts us in the first line of this marathon, this global marathon. This is a new way, a new alternative to take care of the planet. This is what I work for, and it is really worthy.
Up next, a special conversation between Patricia and TED Fellows program director Lily James Olds, where they discuss what led Patricia to her love of microorganisms and how the technology she developed actually works, her team's plans to scale it, and more.
That's coming up right after a short break.
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Chapter 3: Why is the current recycling system inadequate for sustainability?
How many other companies are doing what you're doing? You know, are you all alone in this process? Or like, where are we in that shift of thinking, you know, and starting this transition and systems change from the beginning instead of the end and putting it on the consumer? Where do you and your team sit in the landscape? Please tell me. There are many others doing this work.
Yes. So as I said before, we have different many bioplastics in the market. Okay. And these bioplastics, it is important to know what is the origin of the bioplastics and what is going to be the end of life. So this is our case. We come from biological sources and also we can biodegrade in the environment. But there are bioplastics that come from biological sources, but they cannot biodegrade.
and also other type of bioplastics that can come from petrol-based sources, but they can biodegrade. So they enter in the same scenario. At the end, what is important here is to know what do you want to use the material and what is going to be the end of life of the material. So much alternatives will come in the next years.
We need the industry with their mind open because we need them to test the new products. And also that we need them to help us scale all these processes so that this is economically feasible for them.
So, you know, you mentioned, Patricia, that your bioplastic doesn't create microplastics as it breaks down into those natural organic compounds. Can you say a little bit more specifically about why that is such a breakthrough?
Yeah, it is important to say that because there is so much malinformation or fake news about everything. I think that it is quite dangerous to talk about this, but microplastics are one of the biggest silent pollutions of all time. They are invisible and they are getting everywhere in the sea, in the soil, everywhere. in the air and already inside our bodies.
So most conventional plastics never fully disappear and they simply break into these small pieces that persist for decades. So our material can break into small pieces, but because it is fully biodegradable, those pieces continue degrading until they disappear completely. So it transforms into harmless organic compounds that microorganisms can naturally consume.
So there is no toxicity and, more important, no microplastic residue. We know that the biodegradation of our bioplastic is safe for the environment thanks to certifications like TUV Austria. They verify that our material is safe for the specific environment or the end-of-life scenario that will be used.
And I guess another question I have is, you know, I think when we think of bioplastics, sometimes it seems like it might not be as durable or as long lasting if it's also capable of, you know, completely degrading and being composted. Can you speak to those fears?
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Chapter 4: How can bacteria transform organic waste into biodegradable plastic?
I want the industries to adopt them not as an exception or maybe as a fear, but as a default. And I want cities to be organic waste, not as a problem, but as our raw material. And if we get this right, scaling won't just mean producing more bioplastic.
It will mean redesigning the entire segment of the materials economy so that the things we use every day are returned to the environment and never become pollution again.
I love that. That's a beautiful place to end the conversation. Thank you for this, Patricia. It's always so lovely to talk to you and hear about your bacteria training. So thanks for joining us today.
Thank you very much, Lily.
That was Patricia Aima Maldonado, a 2025 TED Fellow. To learn more about the TED Fellows program and watch all the TED Fellows films, go to fellows.ted.com. And that's it for today. TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. Our team includes Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, and Tansika Sangmarnivong. Additional support from Emma Tobner and Daniela Balarezo.
I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed. Thanks for listening.
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