Biorecycling of Plastic Waste for a Circular Economy

Plastic production has skyrocketed over the last decades, however, recycling rates remain below target. A main obstacle is the lack of efficient and commercially viable methods to recycle plastic waste. Current approaches focus on mechanical recycling, the shredding, melting, and reshaping of plastic waste, which degrades the material in the process.
This project aims to develop biological recycling (biorecycling) of recalcitrant C-C backbone plastics such as PS, PE and PP. Our biorecycling approach explores microbial enzymes to break down waste plastics into their building blocks (monomers), without impacting feedstock quality. Monomers can then be used to create new plastic products, equal in quality to fossil fuel derived plastics.
Biorecycling will allow near infinite recycling of plastic waste, reducing fossil fuel demands for plastic production, and bringing us a step closer to a circular economy.