Recent Biotechnological Approaches for Plastic Waste Management

Biotechnological approaches have emerged as an efficient and promising solution for the management of PW across the globe. The annual production of plastics has drastically increased in the recent few years. Numerous methods are employed for the disposal of PWs such as recycling, incineration, and landfilling. Even though recycling is a good waste management strategy it also has its own drawbacks. During recycling, many toxic pollutants are released directly into the environment, which are very harmful to the whole ecosystem. Additionally, incineration accounts for the release of toxic gases in the environment and landfills require a huge proportion of land which is not a great attribute for proper waste management. Here biotechnology comes into play as it is a more suitable and sustainable approach for proper waste management of plastic polymers without harming the natural ecosystem. These approaches utilize microorganisms such as bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi to degrade the plastic polymers into monomers which are further used in the recycling process. These microorganisms have the ability to break down complex polymers into simpler molecules which can be used as a source of energy or as a raw material for the production of new plastics. The most commonly used method for PW management is biodegradation where the plastic polymers are degraded by the action of microbes into simpler molecules thus eliminating the PW from the environment. Biodegradation of plastics by microbes cannot occur or occurs at a very slow rate if the prior degradation by agents like UV radiation, water abrasion, photooxidation, and corrosion is not subjected. Additionally, enzymatic degradation is also commonly utilized nowadays where the enzymes extracted from different microbial sources degrade the synthetic polymers which aids in the removal of pollutants from the environment. Using biotechnology for the modification of these enzymes and enhancing their degradational efficiency is the key approach to overcoming the PW problem throughout the world. This review highlights the different biotechnological approaches for the efficient and sustainable degradation of plastic polymers thus contributing to PW management efficiently around the world.