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. 2023 Feb 17;50(1):kuad010.
doi: 10.1093/jimb/kuad010.

Repurposing of waste PET by microbial biotransformation to functionalized materials for additive manufacturing

Bhagya S Kolitha  1 , Sandhya K Jayasekara  1 , Rina Tannenbaum  2 , Iwona M Jasiuk  3 , Lahiru N Jayakody  1   4
Affiliations

Repurposing of waste PET by microbial biotransformation to functionalized materials for additive manufacturing

Bhagya S Kolitha et al. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol. .

Abstract

Plastic waste is an outstanding environmental thread. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is one of the most abundantly produced single-use plastics worldwide, but its recycling rates are low. In parallel, additive manufacturing is a rapidly evolving technology with wide-ranging applications. Thus, there is a need for a broad spectrum of polymers to meet the demands of this growing industry and address post-use waste materials. This perspective article highlights the potential of designing microbial cell factories to upcycle PET into functionalized chemical building blocks for additive manufacturing. We present the leveraging of PET hydrolyzing enzymes and rewiring the bacterial C2 and aromatic catabolic pathways to obtain high-value chemicals and polymers. Since PET mechanical recycling back to original materials is cost-prohibitive, the biochemical technology is a viable alternative to upcycle PET into novel 3D printing materials, such as replacements for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. The presented hybrid chemo-bio approaches potentially enable the manufacturing of environmentally friendly degradable or higher-value high-performance polymers and composites and their reuse for a circular economy.

One-sentence summary: Biotransformation of waste PET to high-value platform chemicals for additive manufacturing.

Keywords: 3D-printing; PET; Platform chemical; Synthetic microbes; Upcycle.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract
Biotransformation of waste PET to high-value platform chemicals for additive manufacturing.
Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
An overview of the pathways that funnel PET-degraded products to platform chemicals important in 3D printing filament production and as supporting material. Platform chemicals may undergo certain chemical alternations to be employed in 3D printing. A comprehensive map of metabolic pathways is available in the supplementary material with respective enzymes that catalyze each step.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Examples of different polymerization processes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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