Exploring biotechnology for plastic recycling, degradation and upcycling for a sustainable future

Abstract

The persistent demand for plastic commodities, inadequate recycling infrastructure, and pervasive environmental contamination due to plastic waste present a formidable global challenge. Recycling, degradation and upcycling are the three most important ways to solve the problem of plastic pollution. Sequential enzymatic and microbial degradation of mechanically and chemically pre-treated plastic waste can be orchestrated, followed by microbial conversion into value-added chemicals and polymers through mixed culture systems. Furthermore, plastics-degrading enzymes can be optimized through protein engineering to enhance their specific binding capacities, stability, and catalytic efficiency across a broad spectrum of polymer substrates under challenging high salinity and temperature conditions. Also, the production and formulation of enzyme mixtures can be fine-tuned to suit specific waste compositions, facilitating their effective deployment both in vitro, in vivo and in combination with chemical technologies. Here, we emphasized the comprehensive strategy leveraging microbial processes to transform mixed plastics of fossil-derived polymers such as PP, PE, PU, PET, and PS, most notably polyesters, in conjunction with potential biodegradable alternatives such as PLA and PHA. Any residual material resistant to enzymatic degradation can be reintroduced into the process loop following appropriate physicochemical treatment.