In 2020, an estimated 367 million tons of plastics were produced globally. Plastics take centuries to naturally degrade, and only a small percentage is recycled. This pollution buildup makes it necessary to create more efficient and broadly applicable plastic degradation methods. In our project, we investigated the known plastic degradation enzyme, petase, known for reducing the degradation time of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics, and researched ways to redesign them so that the enzyme could also be used to degrade other plastic types, including crystalized plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC). We decided it might be possible to introduce enzymes found in fungus Aspergillus fumigatus such as PHB depolymerase, which can break down hard plastics such as PVC, to the bacteria ideonella sakaiensis, which contains petase and mhetase. Some drawbacks of this biological engineering that may occur is a decrease in efficiency of the original degradation processes, as well as an increase in recycling costs. However, we believe that creating more widely applicable plastic degradation tools in this field is still extremely important, as it lays down the groundwork to refine the process, increasing efficiency and decreasing costs.

More widely applicable plastic degradation methods via bacterial engineering
School
Weston High School
Weston, MA
BioBuilderClub Season
2021-2022 Season
Category
Resources