An in-built depolymerisation solution for polyethylene waste

该项目旨在设计可以嵌入聚乙烯中的酶，然后通过堆肥堆的高温激活，将塑料解聚为小分子。目前，对于聚乙烯废物的受控分解没有好的选择，相反，研究人员专注于依赖于对主链的基础化学进行修改和/或收集到中央设施的解决方案。我们的方法将导致一个内置的分解，不需要在一个中央设施的收集和回收。由于它基于解聚机制，因此不会产生有害的、部分分解的微塑料。

This project aims to design enzymes that can be embedded into polyethylene, and later activated by the elevated temperatures of a compost heap, to depolymerise the plastic to small molecules. There are no good options available for the controlled decomposition of polyethylene waste at present, and instead researchers have focussed on solutions that rely on modifications to the underlying chemistry of the backbone and or collection to a central facility. Our approach would result in an in-built decomposition that does not require collection and recycling in a central facility. Since it is based on a depolymerisation mechanism it does not result in the production of harmful, partially disintegrated microplastics.