Advances in poly(ethylene terephthalate) hydrolases / 生物工程学报

Plastics have brought invaluable convenience to human life since it was firstly synthesized in the last century. However, the stable polymer structure of plastics led to the continuous accumulation of plastic wastes, which poses serious threats to the ecological environment and human health. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is the most widely produced polyester plastics. Recent researches on PET hydrolases have shown great potential of enzymatic degradation and recycling of plastics. Meanwhile, the biodegradation pathway of PET has become a reference model for the biodegradation of other plastics. This review summarizes the sources of PET hydrolases and their degradation capacity, degradation mechanism of PET by the most representative PET hydrolase-IsPETase, and recently reported highly efficient degrading enzymes through enzyme engineering. The advances of PET hydrolases may facilitate the research on the degradation mechanism of PET and further exploration and engineering of efficient PET degradation enzymes.

Opportunities, challenges and suggestions for the development of plastic degradation and recycling under the context of circular bioeconomy / 生物工程学报

At present, the negative impact caused by white pollution has spread to all aspects of human society economy, ecosystem, and health, which causes severe challenges for developing the circular bioeconomy. As the largest plastic production and consumption country in the world, China has shouldered an important responsibility in plastic pollution control. In this context, this paper analyzed the relevant strategies of plastic degradation and recycling in the United States, Europe, Japan and China, measured the literature and patents in this field, analyzed the status quo of technology from the perspective of research and development trends, major countries, major institutions, and discussed the opportunities and challenges faced by the development of plastic degradation and recycling in China. Finally, we put forward future development suggestions which include the integration of policy system, technology path, industry development and public cognition.

Plastics biodegradation and recycling - the introduction of China-Europe cooperation project "Synthetic microorganism communities for plastic degradation and transformation" / 生物工程学报

The China-European environmental biotechnology cooperation research project on the biodegradation of waste plastics is jointly funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the European Commission (EC), and aims to encourage Chinese and European scientists to carry out substantive research in the field of "Microorganism communities for plastics biodegradation". The goal of the project is to use the metabolic capacity of microbial communities to degrade petrochemical plastics that are easy to cause environmental pollution into monomers and small molecules, thereby realizing the biosynthesis of high-value biochemicals by microorganisms. This can not only solve the problem of plastic pollution, but also "turn waste into treasure" and create higher economic benefits. The China-European cooperative research project will promote in-depth cooperation between scientists from both sides in the field of synthetic biology, and help the two sides establish long-term and stable international exchanges and cooperation. Both China and the EU will work to solve the global plastic pollution problem, form a strategic force of science and technology, and jointly open a new chapter in the field of resource utilization of non-degradable plastics.