Inside Epoch Biodesign: Replacing oil with waste in the materials economy

Plastic has always been cheap for one reason: it’s a byproduct of oil.

For decades, that link has defined the economics of materials, tying cost, supply, and volatility to fossil extraction. But that model is starting to show strain.

Roughly 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced every year, yet only a small fraction is recycled. At the same time, price volatility in petrochemical inputs continues to increase, with some nylon precursors recently seeing spikes of up to 150% tied to supply shocks from the Middle East.    

The result is a system that is both environmentally and economically unstable.

Epoch Biodesign is built on a different assumption: that waste itself can become the feedstock, and that biology can make it commercially competitive. As Jacob Nathan puts it: “For us, a bale of textile is the equivalent of a barrel of oil.”

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The Interview: Inside Epoch

Q: What “aha” moment that made this the problem worth solving?

For Jacob, the starting point wasn’t a single moment but a persistent, everyday observation. “Whereas some environmental challenges like electrifying the grid or preventing agricultural runoff aren’t things most people directly interact with, plastic and textile waste is as tangible as it gets,” he explains. “It pops up in nearly every aspect of our lives, from the food we buy to the clothes we wear and the homes we live in.”

Rather than one defining trigger, it was a growing awareness over time.

“Growing up, I always wondered where all of our plastic waste went,” he says. “When I eventually learned more about the destination of all of this material, and the scale at which we were producing it, I knew I wanted to do something to try and find a solution.”

This wasn’t an abstract climate problem. It was a visible, systemic inefficiency embedded in daily life.

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Q: Can you share a recent success story where your technology made a tangible impact?

Epoch’s work focuses on one critical capability: taking real-world waste and turning it back into usable inputs.“Using our technology, we’ve been able to take waste that would have otherwise ended up in landfill or incineration and convert it back into chemical ingredients for making new products,” Jacob explains.

Importantly, this is not controlled or pre-sorted feedstock.

“This isn’t nice clean plastic that we purchase from a supplier; this is real waste coming from real manufacturing processes that we’re diverting from a poorly handled end-of-life.”

Through enzyme-driven processes, Epoch breaks plastics and textiles down into their core molecular components, enabling them to be rebuilt into new materials.

“Whilst our scale is small in comparison to the challenge today,” he adds, “we’re scaling fast. Soon we’ll be making a quantifiable impact on the      challenges of plastic and textile waste.”

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‍Q: What is the biggest risk you've taken so far?

Epoch made an early conviction-led bet: that AI would fundamentally change how biology is engineered. “When we founded the business, AI’s use in biology was just getting started,” Jacob says.

From the outset, the team believed that navigating the complexity of biology would require computational approaches. “We were convinced this would be a transformational technology for our ability to navigate the complexity of biology and, ultimately, harness it to solve massive challenges.”

By building an AI-first approach to enzyme design, Epoch has been able to improve catalyst performance in a way that directly impacts cost and scalability.

“We’ve been able to regularly achieve performance increases in our catalysts, unlocking the unit economics required to take circularity to scale.”

And on a personal level:

“That - and probably giving up my place at university to build Epoch instead.”

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‍Q: What is the most unexpected lesson from working with traditional industries?

One of the biggest mindset shifts came from engaging directly with incumbents.

“When I first founded the company, I had a view that incumbents couldn’t act as accelerants for progress - quite the opposite,” Jacob explains.

That view changed quickly.

“What I came to learn is that the existing chemicals industry is responsible for some of the most impressive feats of engineering excellence out there.” Beyond technical capability, what stood out was openness. “We’ve been blown away by not just the talent and skills that incumbents are bringing to the table, but also the willingness to collaborate with us to transform the way we’ve been making things for the last 100 years.”

That insight now shapes how Epoch approaches scale.

“We’re strong believers that collaboration is the most effective way to bring our solutions to scale.”

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‍Q: What are the broader ripple effects if Epoch succeeds?

Epoch’s ambition goes beyond improving recycling rates. It is about reshaping the cost structure and input logic of materials production.“By applying the molecular precision and efficiency of enzymes at an industrial scale, we’re positioning Epoch’s technology stack to underpin the future of plastics and textile manufacturing,” Jacob explains.

At the core is a simple but powerful shift: “This is a future where recycled materials can, one day, be consistently cheaper than virgin materials.” If achieved, this would fundamentally change adoption dynamics, making circularity the default, not the exception.

“We’re excited by this vision not just because of the impact on sustainability,” he adds, “but because it delivers on the promise of the bioeconomy,      and we think this will open up so many other opportunities to use biology at scale.”

Why this matters

Plastic and textile production sit at the heart of modern industrial systems. They shape how goods are made, how supply chains operate, and how materials move through the economy. But those systems are under increasing pressure, dependent on fossil inputs, exposed to volatility, and constrained by recycling methods that struggle to scale.

Jacob Nathan’s answers point to a more fundamental shift. Epoch is not just improving recycling; it is changing the logic of how materials are produced. What begins with a visible waste problem leads to a broader rethinking of feedstocks, process economics, and industrial collaboration.

That is what ties the story together. A problem that is tangible in everyday life. A technical bet on AI to navigate biological complexity. A commercial realisation that incumbents are essential to scaling. And a clear end state: recycled materials that are not a compromise, but the economically rational choice.

If that happens, the implications extend far beyond plastics. It means more stable supply chains, reduced dependence on fossil inputs, and a credible path to industrial decarbonisation that aligns with cost and performance, not against them.

About Epoch Biodesign

Epoch Biodesign is building enzyme-based recycling technology to convert plastic and textile waste into high-quality raw materials.

Using AI-driven enzyme design, the company develops biological processes that break down complex waste streams into reusable monomers, enabling circular production at industrial scale.

Continue reading more about Epoch and why we doubled-down on the team, and visit their website at epochbiodesign.com

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Note. article written by Pauline Jimenez, Head of Marketing at KOMPAS VC

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