EUBP Talk #3: Enzymatic and chemical recycling for bioplastics

In our third edition, Arno Cordes, Managing Director at ASA Spezialenzyme GmbH, presented on Enzymatic Recycling for Bioplastics.

Enzymatic recycling is an advanced technology for degrading various compounds in plastic waste streams, making the reaction products available for the synthesis of new plastic materials. In recent years, different enzymes have been discovered capable of cleaving bioplastics, specifically polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA/PHB), polybutylene adipate terephthalate (PBAT), polybutylene succinate (PBS), and polylactic acid (PLA). This talk offered an overview of the types of enzymes used in bioplastic recycling projects, e.g., esterases, polyesterhydrolases and polymer depolymerases. Moreover, this talk also focused on the efficiency of enzyme use in polymer degradation and on the level of maturity for industrial applications. Presentation: https://zenodo.org/records/15308954

Jan Pels, CTO of TORWASH, provided an in-depth look at TORWASH technology for chemical recycling.

Jan talked about depolymerising polyesters and subsequently repolymerizing them into polyesters with the same characteristics as virgin materials. It is important to substitute non-biodegradable plastics with biodegradable ones to reduce pollution and eliminate microplastics. This transition requires many types of biodegradable plastics, blends, and composites to cover all different uses; it also requires recycling technologies capable of processing non-singular materials and dealing with colours, fillers, softeners, etc., added to polymers. Presentation: https://zenodo.org/records/15309118