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Engineered microbes to enable a circular economy for biodegradable plastics
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This review paper explains how scientists are engineering bacteria and enzymes to break down "biodegradable" plastics and turn their leftover building blocks into useful new products, like fuel or fresh plastic, instead of just letting them slowly decompose (or not decompose at all) in landfills. This matters because "biodegradable" plastics don't always break down completely in real-world conditions, meaning they can still linger in the environment and potentially break into microplastics—so finding smarter ways to fully recycle them could reduce the plastic waste and microplastic pollution that ends up in our water, food, and eventually our bodies.
Plastic pollution resulting from the continued dominance of fossil-derived polymers is a major global environmental challenge. Although biodegradable plastics, such as polylactic acid (PLA), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), polybutylene succinate (PBS), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), and related materials, are increasingly being deployed as alternatives, their environmental performance is frequently constrained by infrastructure gaps, uncontrolled carbon loss, and incomplete degradation under realistic conditions. Therefore, biodegradability alone does not guarantee circularity of the material. To address this, intentional rerouting of plastics and their monomers into upcycling streams offers a widely applicable solution. This review advances the circular bioeconomy framework built on engineered depolymerization and metabolic bio-funneling of biodegradable and selected synthetic plastics. We present recent progress in enzyme-mediated polyester breakdown, emphasizing hydrolases and oxidoreductases, the kinetic and structural determinants of activity, and protein engineering strategies that broaden substrate scope and enhance operational stability. We then organize bio-upcycling strategies according to key metabolic entry nodes: pyruvate, acetyl-CoA/β-oxidation, and aromatic/dicarboxylate pathways, to demonstrate how plastic-derived monomers can be systematically redirected toward platform chemicals, fuels, specialty monomers, and next-generation biopolymers through pathway rewiring, flux control, and redox balance. In addition to biological conversion, we evaluate chemo-biological hybrid systems and integrated techno-economic and life cycle considerations, including process efficiency, enzyme cost, toxicity mitigation, and infrastructure compatibility. We further highlight emerging tools, such as systems biology, adaptive laboratory evolution, synthetic consortia design, and machine-learning-guided protein optimization, which accelerate the design–build–test–learn cycle for scalable microbial platforms for plastic upcycling. Collectively, this study reframes biodegradable plastics not as materials designed merely to disappear but as programmable carbon reservoirs that can be captured, upgraded, and reintegrated into biomanufacturing value chains. Actively closing the loop through engineered bio-upcycling, rather than relying on passive environmental degradation, offers a practical pathway to align plastic utility with environmental sustainability and achieve a truly circular bioeconomy.
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Microbial and Enzymatic Biodegradation of Plastic Waste for a Circular Economy
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This review summarizes how bacteria and enzymes can break down plastic waste into simpler, reusable materials as a greener alternative to burning or landfilling. While focused on solutions rather than health effects, the research is relevant because reducing plastic waste at its source would decrease the amount of microplastics that ultimately end up in our food, water, and bodies.
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.
Microplastic biodegradation and environmental safety: From microbial mechanisms to engineered systems and circular bio-based implementation.
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This research review summarizes what scientists know about using bacteria and enzymes to break down microplastics—tiny plastic particles smaller than 5mm that contaminate our water, soil, and air. While these biological approaches show promise for removing dangerous plastic pollution from the environment, the methods don't always work completely and may create new harmful byproducts. The findings matter because microplastics can enter our food chain and bodies, so we need safe and effective ways to remove them without creating new health risks.
Plastic waste impact and biotechnology: Exploring polymer degradation, microbial role, and sustainable development implications
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Researchers reviewed how microorganisms and their enzymes can break down different types of plastic waste through both aerobic (oxygen-using) and anaerobic (oxygen-free) pathways. The review highlights biotechnological tools like genetic modification that could accelerate plastic biodegradation, supporting a shift toward a circular economy.
Engineered plastic-associated bacteria for biodegradation and bioremediation
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This review examines how bacteria naturally found on plastic surfaces can be engineered to more efficiently break down and recycle plastic waste. Researchers summarized advances in using genetic engineering to enhance microbial plastic degradation and connect it to pathways that convert plastic into useful products. The study highlights the potential for biotechnology to address the plastic waste crisis while supporting a circular economy.
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