Lee, A., Liew, M.S. (2020)
Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management, 22(1), 1-10
The accumulation of plastic waste is a pressing environmental problem, growing hand-in-hand with the rising production and consumption of consumer products. The robustness and intrinsic strength of plastics, which render them extremely useful in various packaging applications, are a double-edged sword as they are likewise highly resistant to degradation and may persist for several millennia. Conventional waste treatment solutions are increasingly unable to manage the growing volume of such waste, bringing us to the brink of ecological disaster. Interestingly, environmental microorganisms are beginning to evolve their own biological means of thriving within such environments through production of metabolic intermediaries that enable them to utilize plastics as energy sources. Here, we present a brief review of the current literature, highlighting various micro- and multicellular organisms that have been found to degrade plastics, as well as propose some strategies for industrialization of these processes in the future.
Biodegradation, which refers to the degradation and assimilation of materials by microorganisms, presents an attractive option for clean, gentle degradation of plastics. These organisms do so by producing degradative enzymes, which can act under mild conditions with low energy input and without the need for expensive machinery. Furthermore, enzymatic reactions have specific substrates and products, yielding eco-friendly compounds that can be harvested for recycling or further processing into valuable ingredients. Thus, biodegradation may provide an additional, eco-friendly revenue stream from low-value single-use plastic products, of which currently only 5% material value is retained for subsequent use.
With high microbial diversity in soil, compost, marine, and other aquatic environments, many naturally occurring organisms have evolved plastic-degrading capabilities. The purpose of this paper is to highlight different biological methods of plastic waste breakdown, to review different strategies to enhance their efficiency, and to evaluate their potential as industrial-scale solutions. This review will focus on biodegradation of the main polymer types used in the production of single-use plastics: polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene.
Subject headings: Microorganisms; Biodegradation; Polyethylene terephthalate
Find the full text: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10163-019-00931-4
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Type: Journal Article
Serial number: 2982