Plastics Recycling With Enzymes Takes a Leap Forward - CleanTechnica

A collaborative research effort involving the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), the University of Massachusetts Lowell, and the University of Portsmouth has advanced enzymatic recycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a common plastic used in packaging and textiles. Building on prior work engineering improved PETase enzymes capable of breaking down PET, the team integrated chemical engineering, process development, and techno-economic analysis to create a scalable, economically viable recycling process. This approach addresses limitations of current PET recycling methods, particularly their incompatibility with low-quality, contaminated, or colored plastic waste, by using enzymes that selectively depolymerize PET into monomers that can be reused or upcycled into higher-value materials. Key innovations in the process include optimized reaction conditions and separation technologies that drastically reduce the need for costly acid and base additives by over 99%, cut annual operating costs by 74%, and lower energy consumption by 65%. These improvements have brought the modeled cost of enzymatically recycled PET down to $1.51 per kilogram