Usage of Potential Micro-organisms for Degradation of Plastics

Abstract

Plastics are high molecular weight organic source materials. It is necessary to devise systems to decompose plastic polymers because their disruptive effects are threatening the ecosystem. Biotic and abiotic strategies are being employed to convert plastics into monomers. The objective of both techniques is to reduce polymers to monomers. Microbes act on monomers for their degradation by releasing enzymes on polymers. The rate of microbial degradation is affected by both the environmental conditions as well as by polymer characteristics. Different methods are used to check the rate of biological degradation However, some plastics oppose microbial action. The environment condition and polymer characteristics affect the rate of degradation. Different approaches are used to check the rate of biological degradation. The need of the time is to generate bio based plastics material which can be degraded effi ciently. These polymers can be recycled by degradation to monomers and then convert back to petrochemical products. This will contribute to fulfi ll the increasing demand of organic fuels and may serve as next generation fuel. There is no effective technique that can degrade plastics with effi cacy, so scientists are struggling to develop techniques which not only degrade these polymers but also results into benefi cial products. This review is an attempt to organize some of the most common strategies for degradation of various types of polymers along with a list of potential microbes capable of feeding on them.

Toward Microbial Recycling and Upcycling of Plastics: Prospects and Challenges

“…These include Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium falciforme , and Purpureocillum lilacinum ( Spina et al, 2021 ). Various reviews have been published providing an overview of these plastic degrading microorganisms ( Pathak and Navneet, 2017 ; Roohi et al, 2017 ; Rana, 2019 ; Jaiswal et al, 2020 ; Mohanan et al, 2020 ; Maity et al, 2021 ; Priya et al, 2022 ). Due to the abundance of plastic degrading micro-organisms isolated from plastic polluted environments, plastic debris is considered a promising source for the isolation of potentially successful plastic degrading bacteria and fungi.…”

Introduction, Past and Present Scenarios of Plastic Degradation

“…Plastics are used in food industry, health care products, building materials, furniture and make living comfortable by making things affordable and cheaper without compromising their strength. Polymers can be divided into different groups based on the different parameters such as on the basis of structure of polymers (linear, Branch chain and cross-linked polymers), mode of polymerization (addition and condensation polymers), thermal behavior (thermoplastic and thermosetting) and source of origin (synthetic and natural polymers) [40,41]. However, the easier way to classify is the source of origin.…”

“…Hydration of polymers depends on the hydrophilic nature of polymer and results due to the disruption of secondary and tertiary structure stabilized by weak van der Waals forces. Hydration of polymers makes it water soluble and results in bond cleavage by chemical or enzyme catalysed reaction [41,51]. Ionization, protonation or hydrolysis of the pendent groups (anhydride or ester groups) of polymer chain makes water insoluble polymer soluble; for example polylactic acid become water soluble at high pH.…”

Evaluating the Lignin Degrading Potential of Indigenously Isolated Fungal Strain 81 From Paper and Pulp Industry Waste Water

“…In nature, micro-organisms are known for their biodegradation ability and exhibit excellent potential in waste water treatment (Iram et al, 2019). Various ligninolytic micro-organisms like bacteria actinomycetes, and white and soft rot fungi are found to have lignin degradation potential due to presence of specific enzymes and can be utilized for lignin biological treatment in wastewaters (Ayeronfe et al, 2018;Singh et al, 2021, Kour et al, 2021Lenka, 2022)).…”