Team:Imperial College/PHB Recycling/Overview

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Overview

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

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