Currently, less than 10 per cent of the 380 million metrics tons of plastics that are produced annually in the US are recycled.
A team of researchers from Northwestern University have been focusing on recycling techniques that can efficiently deconstruct and rebuild plastic polymers which can be preferable to other recycling methods, many of which can only be used on plastic once.
Recycling plants typically heat plastic up, break it down and then rebuild it into weaker, poorer quality materials. Breaking down the polymers into their fundamental components can enable the creation of new plastics that are sturdier than they were before.
Using an enzyme that can be synthesised in a lab, the researchers developed a process without using other solvents that can be used repeatedly.
“People have discovered an enzyme - a bacteria that eats polyester to survive and converts it into monomeric units,” said researcher Olvera de la Cruz. “But they haven’t been able...