Revisiting the activity of two poly(vinyl chloride)- and polyethylene-degrading enzymes

Abstract Biocatalytic degradation of non-hydrolyzable plastics is a rapidly growing field of research, driven by the global accumulation of waste. Enzymes capable of cleaving the carbon-carbon bonds in synthetic polymers are highly sought-after as they may provide tools for environmentally friendly plastic recycling. Despite some reports of oxidative enzymes acting on non-hydrolyzable plastics, including polyethylene or poly(vinyl chloride), the notion that these materials are susceptible to efficient enzymatic degradation remains controversial, partly driven by a general lack of studies independently reproducing previous observations. We attempted to replicate two recent studies reporting that deconstruction of polyethylene and poly(vinyl chloride) can be achieved using an insect hexamerin from Galleria mellonella (so-called “Ceres”) or a bacterial catalase-peroxidase from Klebsiella sp. , respectively. Reproducing previously described experiments with the recombinant proteins, we did not observe any activity on plastics using multiple reaction conditions and multiple substrate types. Digging deeper into the discrepancies between the previous data and our observations, we show how and why the original experimental results may have been misinterpreted, leading to the erroneous claim that enzymatic deconstruction of polyethylene and poly(vinyl chloride) had occurred. Our results should lead to caution when interpreting the growing amount of literature claiming enzymatic degradation of non-hydrolyzable plastics.