Europe makes major breakthrough in converting plastic into biodegradable plastic!

The Institute for Biodegradable Materials reported that on August 23, 2023, the European BioICEP project led by AIMPLAS, the Spanish plastics technology Center, made significant progress.

AIMPLAS converts synthetic plastics into biodegradable bioplastics through microwave-based and reactive extrusion methods, a result that holds great promise for the packaging and pharmaceutical industries as a sustainable solution for plastic waste.

This involves the application of microwave-assisted thermochemical degradation, which reportedly converts fossil-based plastic waste into natural, biodegradable alternatives and accelerates the biodegradation of conventional plastics, which is said to completely degrade in less than 28 days.

AIMPLAS explained that the depolymerization of polyamides is another technique used to reduce polymers to original monomers, which can then be degraded by microorganisms and converted into bioplastics and other products of interest. Reactive extrusion techniques have also been used to change the structure of polymer chains and improve their biodegradability.

This work is part of AIMPLAS 'participation in the Plastics Circular Economy BioInnovation or BioICEP project. The project was established in February 2020 and funded by the Horizon 2020 program to develop environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.

In the project, AIMPLAS is the coordinator responsible for the communication activities and the dissemination and utilization of the results.

BioICEP's proposed solution for reducing plastic waste in the environment is a three-step process. The first step involves chemical decomposition, using a new microwave-based technique to reduce the molecular weight of the base polymer and thus improve biodegradability. The second step, biocatalytic digestion, integrates improved enzymes through techniques such as fluorescence sensor screening and directed evolution. Finally, the third step utilizes microbial communities from top single microbial strains to strategically combine to effectively degrade mixed plastic waste streams.

The final product will be used to produce new polymer and biological products, theoretically pioneering a circular economy for plastic waste.