Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges
Annually, 400 Mt of plastics are produced of which roughly 40% is discarded within a year. Current plastic waste management approaches focus on applying physical, thermal, and chemical treatments of plastic polymers. However, these methods have severe limitations leading to the loss of valuable mate...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Microbiology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.821629/full |
| _version_ | 1811271663687303168 |
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| author | Jo-Anne Verschoor Hadiastri Kusumawardhani Arthur F. J. Ram Johannes H. de Winde |
| author_facet | Jo-Anne Verschoor Hadiastri Kusumawardhani Arthur F. J. Ram Johannes H. de Winde |
| author_sort | Jo-Anne Verschoor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Annually, 400 Mt of plastics are produced of which roughly 40% is discarded within a year. Current plastic waste management approaches focus on applying physical, thermal, and chemical treatments of plastic polymers. However, these methods have severe limitations leading to the loss of valuable materials and resources. Another major drawback is the rapid accumulation of plastics into the environment causing one of the biggest environmental threats of the twenty-first century. Therefore, to complement current plastic management approaches novel routes toward plastic degradation and upcycling need to be developed. Enzymatic degradation and conversion of plastics present a promising approach toward sustainable recycling of plastics and plastics building blocks. However, the quest for novel enzymes that efficiently operate in cost-effective, large-scale plastics degradation poses many challenges. To date, a wide range of experimental set-ups has been reported, in many cases lacking a detailed investigation of microbial species exhibiting plastics degrading properties as well as of their corresponding plastics degrading enzymes. The apparent lack of consistent approaches compromises the necessary discovery of a wide range of novel enzymes. In this review, we discuss prospects and possibilities for efficient enzymatic degradation, recycling, and upcycling of plastics, in correlation with their wide diversity and broad utilization. Current methods for the identification and optimization of plastics degrading enzymes are compared and discussed. We present a framework for a standardized workflow, allowing transparent discovery and optimization of novel enzymes for efficient and sustainable plastics degradation in the future. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T22:24:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-677f639b8dd8410390e59f8640818171 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-302X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T22:24:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Microbiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-677f639b8dd8410390e59f86408181712022-12-22T03:14:13ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Microbiology1664-302X2022-03-011310.3389/fmicb.2022.821629821629Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and ChallengesJo-Anne Verschoor0Hadiastri Kusumawardhani1Arthur F. J. Ram2Johannes H. de Winde3Molecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsDepartment of Fundamental Microbiology, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandMolecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsMolecular Biotechnology, Institute of Biology, Leiden University, Leiden, NetherlandsAnnually, 400 Mt of plastics are produced of which roughly 40% is discarded within a year. Current plastic waste management approaches focus on applying physical, thermal, and chemical treatments of plastic polymers. However, these methods have severe limitations leading to the loss of valuable materials and resources. Another major drawback is the rapid accumulation of plastics into the environment causing one of the biggest environmental threats of the twenty-first century. Therefore, to complement current plastic management approaches novel routes toward plastic degradation and upcycling need to be developed. Enzymatic degradation and conversion of plastics present a promising approach toward sustainable recycling of plastics and plastics building blocks. However, the quest for novel enzymes that efficiently operate in cost-effective, large-scale plastics degradation poses many challenges. To date, a wide range of experimental set-ups has been reported, in many cases lacking a detailed investigation of microbial species exhibiting plastics degrading properties as well as of their corresponding plastics degrading enzymes. The apparent lack of consistent approaches compromises the necessary discovery of a wide range of novel enzymes. In this review, we discuss prospects and possibilities for efficient enzymatic degradation, recycling, and upcycling of plastics, in correlation with their wide diversity and broad utilization. Current methods for the identification and optimization of plastics degrading enzymes are compared and discussed. We present a framework for a standardized workflow, allowing transparent discovery and optimization of novel enzymes for efficient and sustainable plastics degradation in the future.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.821629/fullplasticsenzymesbiorecyclingbiodegradationcomprehensive workflow |
| spellingShingle | Jo-Anne Verschoor Hadiastri Kusumawardhani Arthur F. J. Ram Johannes H. de Winde Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges Frontiers in Microbiology plastics enzymes biorecycling biodegradation comprehensive workflow |
| title | Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges |
| title_full | Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges |
| title_fullStr | Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges |
| title_full_unstemmed | Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges |
| title_short | Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges |
| title_sort | toward microbial recycling and upcycling of plastics prospects and challenges |
| topic | plastics enzymes biorecycling biodegradation comprehensive workflow |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2022.821629/full |
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