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Papers
61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Enhancing plastic waste recycling: Evaluating the impact of additives on the enzymatic polymer degradation
ClearGenomic insights and metabolic pathways of an enriched bacterial community capable of degrading polyethylene
Researchers enriched bacteria from wastewater treatment sludge that can break down polyethylene plastic, achieving a 3% weight reduction in plastic films over 28 days. Genomic analysis identified specific bacterial strains and 14 plastic-degrading genes, including those for enzymes like laccase and lipase that attack the plastic's molecular structure. The study offers a potential pathway toward using naturally occurring bacteria as a sustainable solution for plastic waste degradation.
Enzymatic Degradation of PET plastic
This study tested commercial-grade enzymes for degrading PET plastic and found that enzymatic degradation was effective at laboratory scale but faced challenges for real-world application. Scaling up enzymatic PET recycling could reduce the persistence of plastic waste that eventually fragments into microplastics in the environment.
Enhancing PET Degrading Enzymes: A Combinatory Approach
Scientists worked on improving enzymes that can break down PET plastic, one of the most common plastics in consumer products. Using a combinatory approach, researchers enhanced the performance of a naturally occurring PET-degrading enzyme from the bacterium Piscinibacter sakaiensis. The study suggests that engineered enzymes could eventually help create a circular economy for plastic waste by enabling efficient recycling at the molecular level.
Microplastics enhance laccase-driven bisphenol A removal in multipollutant wastewater
Researchers investigated whether polyethylene microplastics affect the ability of the enzyme laccase to remove bisphenol A from wastewater. PE microplastics enhanced laccase activity by 96%, with the plastic surface enabling greater enzyme-substrate contact and improved BPA adsorption, suggesting microplastics could inadvertently improve some enzymatic treatment processes.
Biodegradation of Plastic and the Role of Microbial Enzymes in Plastic Waste Management
This review examines how microbial enzymes, particularly PET hydrolases and oxidative enzymes, can depolymerize and break down common plastic polymers through biological degradation. The study suggests that enzymatic approaches to plastic waste management offer a promising complement to mechanical and chemical recycling, though optimizing enzyme activity and scaling up the process remain key challenges.
Revisiting the activity of two poly(vinyl chloride)- and polyethylene-degrading enzymes
Researchers revisited two enzymes previously reported to degrade PVC and polyethylene, finding limited evidence of true carbon-carbon bond cleavage and calling for more rigorous validation standards in the growing field of plastic biodegradation research.
Plastic waste impact and biotechnology: Exploring polymer degradation, microbial role, and sustainable development implications
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.
Enhanced degradation of microplastics by laccase under ambient conditions: Analysis of underlying molecular mechanisms
This study demonstrated that the enzyme laccase can degrade three types of microplastics — polyethylene (PE), PET, and PLA — by breaking apart polymer chains and transforming surface chemical groups, with biodegradable PLA showing the highest degradation efficiency. The mechanistic insights into how reactive oxygen species and electron transfer drive enzymatic degradation provide a foundation for developing enzyme-based treatments to remove microplastics from water and soil.
Recent Advancements and Mechanism of Plastics Biodegradation Promoted by Bacteria: A Key for Sustainable Remediation for Plastic Wastes
This review highlights recent discoveries of microbial enzymes capable of degrading various plastics, discussing bacterial biodegradation mechanisms as a sustainable remediation strategy for addressing accumulating plastic waste in landfills and water bodies.
Isolation and characterization of new bacterial strains degrading low-density polyethylene
Researchers isolated and characterized new bacterial strains capable of degrading low-density polyethylene, one of the most common plastic polymers. The strains were found in landfill and compost environments, and the study suggests that biological degradation could be a promising approach for addressing polyethylene waste accumulation.
Recent trends in microbial and enzymatic plastic degradation: a solution for plastic pollution predicaments
This review covers recent advances in using microorganisms and their enzymes to break down plastics including polyethylene, PVC, polystyrene, and PET, with techniques like protein engineering being used to boost enzyme efficiency. Microbial degradation offers a sustainable approach to reducing the persistent plastic pollution that generates the microplastics found throughout the environment and human body.
Characterization and Optimization of Biocatalysts for New Recycling Technologies
Researchers investigated the characterisation and optimisation of enzymatic biocatalysts capable of degrading synthetic plastics, addressing the limitations of conventional mechanical recycling that has proven largely ineffective at curbing plastic and microplastic accumulation in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The work explores how enzyme engineering and directed evolution can improve the efficiency of biological plastic breakdown as a pathway toward circular plastic recycling.
Frontiers in plastic biodegradation: unraveling the mechanisms and impacts of macro- and microplastic pollution
This review examined current approaches to breaking down plastic pollution using microorganisms and enzymes, covering common plastics like polyethylene, polypropylene, PET, and polystyrene. Researchers highlighted several promising biological degradation pathways, including enzymes like PETase and laccase produced by bacteria and fungi. The study suggests that combining genetic engineering of plastic-degrading organisms with circular economy strategies could help address the growing global plastic pollution crisis.
Breakthrough in polyurethane bio-recycling: An efficient laccase-mediated system for the degradation of different types of polyurethanes
A laccase-mediated enzymatic system efficiently degraded multiple types of polyurethane plastics in aqueous solution at mild conditions, breaking polymer chains and reducing molecular weight within days, offering a green biotechnology approach to managing polyurethane waste that conventional recycling and chemical degradation struggle to address.
Microbial enzymes for the recycling of recalcitrant petroleum‐based plastics: how far are we?
This review examines the progress in identifying microbial enzymes capable of breaking down petroleum-based plastics like polyethylene, polystyrene, polyurethane, and PET. Researchers highlight recent advances in using polyester-degrading enzymes to recover raw materials from PET waste through biocatalytic recycling. The study discusses the potential and remaining challenges of using biological approaches to address the growing global problem of plastic waste accumulation.
Recent advances and challenges in sustainable management of plastic waste using biodegradation approach
This review provides a comprehensive overview of plastic biodegradation as a sustainable strategy for managing plastic waste accumulation. Researchers surveyed recent breakthroughs in identifying microorganisms and enzymes capable of breaking down various plastic polymers under relatively mild conditions. The study highlights that while biodegradation shows promise as an eco-friendly alternative to conventional waste management, significant challenges remain in scaling these approaches for practical application.
Eco-Microbiology: Discovering Biochemical Enhancers of PET Biodegradation by Piscinibacter sakaiensis
This paper reviews biochemical strategies for enhancing PET biodegradation by microorganisms, focusing on the discovery and engineering of plastic-degrading enzymes. The review highlights recent advances and remaining challenges in scaling up enzymatic plastic degradation for industrial applications.
Plastic biodegradation: Frontline microbes and their enzymes
Researchers reviewed microbial biodegradation of synthetic plastics — including PE, PP, PS, and PET — cataloguing the insects, bacteria, and fungi capable of breaking down these polymers along with the enzymatic mechanisms involved, and outlining paths forward including metabolic pathway engineering and molecular cloning to improve degradation rates.
Microbial Degradation of (Micro)plastics: Mechanisms, Enhancements, and Future Directions
This review examines how microorganisms can break down microplastics using enzymes like PETase and laccases, offering a more environmentally friendly alternative to other cleanup methods. While microbial degradation holds promise for reducing microplastic pollution and its associated health risks, current efficiency is too low for large-scale application and needs further improvement.
Enzymatic Degradation of Polyethylene and Polyethylene Terephthalate: A Mini Review
This review examines enzymatic degradation of polyethylene and polyethylene terephthalate plastics, surveying how enzymes produced by bacteria, fungi, and algae depolymerize these polymers on plastic surfaces under suitable conditions. The authors highlight enzymatic biodegradation as a promising low-energy, environmentally friendly alternative for plastic waste management compared to mechanical and chemical recycling approaches.
Modulating biofilm can potentiate activity of novel plastic-degrading enzymes
Researchers discovered two new enzymes capable of breaking down PET plastic (the kind used in plastic bottles) and found that boosting a bacterium's ability to form a biofilm — a sticky coating that helps bacteria cling to surfaces — significantly increased how fast the enzymes could degrade plastic. This biofilm strategy could help accelerate the development of biological plastic-recycling systems for waste that would otherwise end up in landfills.
Microbial degradation of plastics in the environment: Mechanisms, enzymatic pathways, and constraints from laboratory studies to environmental reality
Researchers reviewed microbial and insect-mediated plastic biodegradation, finding that while a wide range of bacteria and fungi can degrade common polymers and PETase enzymes have been substantially improved through protein engineering, degradation rates measured in optimized laboratory settings likely overestimate real-world performance under natural constraints like low temperature and nutrient limitation.
Enhancing environmmental biodegradation of polyesters
Researchers investigated two pathways for enhancing the environmental biodegradation of polyester-based packaging polymers: a smart additive-based material design concept and an engineered enzymatic degradation approach using optimised polyesterases. The work addresses the gap between the theoretical biodegradability of polyesters like PLA and PBAT and their actual slow degradation in natural environments, which leads to persistent microplastic generation during the end-of-life phase.
Structural decay of poly(ethylene terephthalate) by enzymatic degradation
Researchers examined the structural decay of poly(ethylene terephthalate) through enzymatic degradation as a sustainable recycling strategy, finding this approach requires neither energy nor harsh solvents, offering a promising path for addressing microplastic pollution from PET products.