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Review
. 2009 Aug 26;10(9):3722-3742.
doi: 10.3390/ijms10093722.

Biodegradability of plastics

Yutaka Tokiwa  1 , Buenaventurada P Calabia  2 , Charles U Ugwu  1 , Seiichi Aiba  2
Affiliations
Review

Biodegradability of plastics

Yutaka Tokiwa et al. Int J Mol Sci. .

Abstract

Plastic is a broad name given to different polymers with high molecular weight, which can be degraded by various processes. However, considering their abundance in the environment and their specificity in attacking plastics, biodegradation of plastics by microorganisms and enzymes seems to be the most effective process. When plastics are used as substrates for microorganisms, evaluation of their biodegradability should not only be based on their chemical structure, but also on their physical properties (melting point, glass transition temperature, crystallinity, storage modulus etc.). In this review, microbial and enzymatic biodegradation of plastics and some factors that affect their biodegradability are discussed.

Keywords: aliphatic polyesters; bio-based plastics; biodegradability; enzymatic degradation; microbial degradation.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Bio-plastics comprised of biodegradable plastics and bio-based plastics.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Relationship between Tm and biodegradability of polyesters by R. arrhizus lipase. PEA: poly(ethylene adipate); PESu: poly(ethylene suberate); PEAz: poly(ethylene azelate); PESE: poly(ethylene sebacate); PEDe: poly(ethylene decamethylate); PBS: poly(butylene succinate); PBA: poly(butylene adipate); PBSE: poly(butylene sebacate); PCL: polycaprolactone; PPL: polypropiolactone.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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