Overview

The bioplastic recycling module will look at closing the loop on bioplastics before they even begin to gain traction as a viable and more desirable plastic. We will be looking at degrading and synthesising polylactic acid (PLA) and poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (P3HB) using a fully biological system. The byproducts from the breakdown of our bioplastics will be separated then purified in order to allow them to be reused in industry

A diagrammatic representation of our P3HB recycling system

Polylactic acid (PLA) is for the most part, a chemically derived aliphatic polyester. PLA can be moulded into a product and is used as a feedstock in 3D printing. The bioplastic has high strength and is a thermoplastic. It represents a growing market within the plastic industry, one which will inevitably require degradation at a recycling plant [1]. Currently only tentative pilot studies have been made towards engineering a biological mechanism to enhance degradation. We thus intend to use shredded PLA as a feedstock to breakdown this bioplastic, with enzymes capable of breaking both L- and D- enantiomeric bonds.

References

[1] http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/download/4048/PDF