Microbial Degradation of Plastics and Approaches to Make It More Efficient

The growing worldwide production of synthetic plastics leads to increased amounts of plastic pollution. Even though microbial degradation of plastics is known to be a very slow process, this capacity has been found in many bacteria, including invertebrate symbionts, and microscopic fungi. Research in this field has been mostly focused on microbial degradation of polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Quite an arsenal of different methods is available today for detecting processes of plastic degradation and measuring their rates. Given the lack of generally accepted protocols, it is difficult to compare results presented by different authors. PET degradation by recombinant hydrolases from thermophilic actinobacteria happens to be the most efficient among the currently known plastic degradation processes. Various approaches to accelerating microbial plastic degradation are also discussed.

Automated summary

The growing production of synthetic plastics worldwide leads to increased plastic pollution, and research has shown that microbial degradation of plastics is slow but possible. Most studies focus on microbial degradation of polyethylene, polystyrene, and PET, with the most efficient process currently being the PET degradation by recombinant hydrolases from thermophilic actinobacteria. Various methods to accelerate microbial plastic degradation are also discussed.