Scientists are working to develop enzymes that can break down plastics so they can be 100% recycled
The world produces about 400 million tons of plastic waste each year. Much of it ends up in landfills and a significant portion ends up polluting the world’s oceans. However, even when plastic is recycled, the process degrades the material, limiting its future recyclability.
While we can try to reduce our dependence on plastic, industries like food and healthcare simply can’t replace it. That’s why scientists John McGeehan, Rosie Graham and their colleagues at the Centre for Enzyme Innovation at the University of Portsmouth are developing another solution: a fully circular plastic economy. The idea is to apply enzymes to break down plastic polymers so they can be 100% recycled back to their original state – or even recycle the degraded material back to virgin plastic quality.
In the video above, John and Rosie explain how a chance email to the AlphaFold team accelerated their work.
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