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Plastics and the Sustainable Development Goals: From waste to wealth with microbial recycling and upcycling
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This editorial highlights how microbial biotechnology—including biological recycling of conventional plastics and upcycling of plastic waste into value-added products—can accelerate the transition to a circular plastic economy and help achieve multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Plastics pollution has become one of the greatest concerns of the 21st century. To date, around 10 billion tons of plastics have been produced almost exclusively from non-renewable sources, and of these, <10% have been recycled. The majority of discarded plastic waste (>70%) is accumulating in landfills or the environment, causing severe impacts to natural ecosystems and human health. Considering how plastics are present in every aspect of our daily lives, it is evident that a transition towards a Circular Economy of plastics is essential to achieve several of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this editorial, we highlight how microbial biotechnology can contribute to this shift, with a special focus on the biological recycling of conventional plastics and the upcycling of plastic-waste feedstocks into new value-added products. Although important hurdles will need to be overcome in this endeavour, recent success stories highlight how interdisciplinary approaches can bring us closer to a bio-based economy for the sustainable management of plastics.
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This review examines the prospects and challenges of using microorganisms to recycle and upcycle plastic waste, assessing the current state of microbial degradation research across major polymer types. The authors identify metabolic engineering and synthetic biology as key tools needed to make biological plastic recycling economically viable at scale.
Critical Review on the Progress of Plastic Bioupcycling Technology as a Potential Solution for Sustainable Plastic Waste Management
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This review examines biological upcycling of plastic waste, highlighting how plastic-degrading microorganisms and enzymes can convert post-consumer plastics into high-value products such as bioplastics, biochemicals, and biosurfactants, offering a more circular alternative to incineration and landfilling given that only 9% of global plastic is currently recycled.
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A review of literature on plastics and the UN Sustainable Development Goals found that despite plastic contributing positively to at least 15 SDGs, marine plastic pollution overall outweighs these benefits relative to the 2030 Agenda. Circular economy practices including recycling are identified as the most viable solutions to balancing plastic's societal role with its environmental harms.
Cutting-edge developments in plastic biodegradation and upcycling via engineering approaches
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This review examines how engineering approaches from synthetic biology and metabolic engineering can improve both the breakdown and upcycling of plastic waste. Researchers found that various microorganisms and their enzymes can degrade plastics and convert the resulting monomers into valuable products like biosurfactants, bioplastics, and biochemicals. The study suggests that optimizing microbial pathways and using hybrid chemo-biological approaches could help build a more sustainable circular plastic economy.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.