Scientists Work to Transform Plastic Waste into Valuable Products

A team of scientists who pioneered the use of a plastic-eating enzyme has undertaken the next sustainable step in their research: converting plastic waste to sustainable chemicals and materials using nature-based solutions, thus contributing to curbing a global pollution crisis.

“The last few years have seen incredible advances in the engineering of enzymes to break down polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic into its building blocks,” explains Professor John McGeehan from the University of Portsmouth, UK. “This work goes a stage further and looks at the first enzyme in a cascade that can deconstruct those building blocks into simpler molecules. These can then be utilized by bacteria to generate sustainable chemicals and materials, essential making valuable products out of plastic waste.”

In 2018, the team engineered a natural enzyme capable of breaking down PET. Now, the most recent enzyme they identified efficiently breaks down terephthalate (TPA), a chemical building block of PET used to make single-use plastic bottles, clothes, and carpets. With 400 million tons of plastic waste generated on a yearly basis, this new enzyme opens the door to other bacterial enzymes which can contribute to tackling the global problem and developing biological systems capable of converting waste plastic into valuable products.