Despite the clear environmental impact of plastic pollution, its manufacturing is still expected to double by 2050.

P3EB Mission Hub is closing the cycle of plastic waste through molecular repurposing of one of the biggest pollutants

From plastic scrap to valuable products

One monomer at a time

The P3EB Mission Hub is developing a new biobased recycling method to manage plastic waste. This approach is adresses the unsustainable problems of current methods, such as the release of greenhouse gas emissions and byproduct generation. Moreover, it will allow the creation of innovative recycled products beyond plastics.

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0
Million tonnes of plastic waste is produced every year globally*
0%
of the overall plastic waste is estimated to be recycled, while the rest is either discarded or incinerated*

*source GreenMatch

Tackling a worldwide environmental challenge:

the unsustainable growth of the plastic industry 

From food microplastics to ocean debris, discarded plastic poses a threat to wildlife, whole ecosystems, and human health. And despite the clear environmental impact of plastic pollution, its manufacturing is still expected to double by 2050. Current recycling methods for plastic waste commonly rely on polluting processes that release global warming gases, or downcycling chains in which not all the material can be repurposed. We are in need of an efficient and sustainable system to recycle plastic waste, for which biochemical technologies are a promising solution.

Tackling a worldwide environmental challenge

The unsustainable growth of 

the plastic industry 

From food microplastics to ocean debris, discarded plastic poses a threat to wildlife, whole ecosystems, and human health. And despite the clear environmental impact of plastic pollution, its manufacturing is still expected to double by 2050. Current recycling methods for plastic waste commonly rely on polluting processes that release global warming gases, or downcycling chains in which not all the material can be repurposed. We are in need of an efficient and sustainable system to recycle plastic waste, for which biochemical technologies are a promising solution.

Recycling and upcycling using biochemistry

Our approach aims to open new doors for tertiary recycling processes, to create new waste-based products beyond recycled plastics.

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The project in numbers

Institutions

participating institutions, partners and collaborators

Funding

in funding from the UKRI Technology Missions Fund and the BBSRC

Calendar

years duration

P3EB workplan

To achieve our project goals, our five-year project is structured into eight interlinked work packages.

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  • Establishing working standards

Standards and Metrology

To ensure consistency across P3EB, we are establishing working standards based on our prior experience with large-scale international collaborations, scientific literature, ISO/CEN standards and external bodies. These standards will cover experimental methodology, data analysis and reporting, ensuring robust and comparable results. We have previously employed this harmonization and sharing of standards to produce a range of multi-institute outputs.

  • Enzyme discovery & engineering

Discovery of Enzymes from Extreme and Plastic-Polluted Environments

We will broaden our repertoire of plastic-degrading enzymes by looking to plastic-degrading microbes taken from the natural environment, identify the specific enzymes responsible, and improve the performance of these enzymes for use in subsequent engineering biology efforts.

Engineering Enzymes for Plastics Deconstruction

Natural enzymes will likely be too inefficient for direct industrial application; using an iterative engineering approach, we will develop enzymes and microbes for efficient depolymerisation of plastics into reusable chemicals.

  • Applications in enzymatic plastic recycling

Advancing Industrial Enzymatic PET Recycling

Enzymatic recycling of PET is nearing industrial deployment at scale, but limitations in the enzymes used necessitate protracted reaction times. Additionally, the established pre-treatment regime is unnecessary for thin films as they have low crystallinity, but this feedstock presents technical challenges for enzymes. We will engineer solutions to these issues, making enzymatic PET recycling more efficient and financially attractive.

Alternative Enzymatic Strategies for Challenging Polymers

The established pretreatment regime for reducing polymer crystallinity is energy-intensive. Here, we will engineer enzymes for depolymerisation of the target polymers under alternative, lower-energy conditions.

  • Sustainable production of new upcycled products

Upcycling of Plastic Monomers

We will expand the portfolio of upcycled products from plastic monomers by incorporating our novel enzymes into new metabolic pathways and bioprocesses targeting compounds manufactured inefficiently or from unsustainable resources.

Sustainable Sources of Monomer Feedstocks

We will engineer microbes to be hosts for the sustainable production of feedstocks that are currently derived from oil and gas.

  • Promoting technology adoption

Public, Policy and Industry Engagement

Supported by public and policy researchers, we are building on our extensive expertise from the Plastic Waste Innovation Hub (University College London), Sustainable Materials Innovation Hub (University of Manchester), and the Centre for Enzyme Innovation (University of Portsmouth) to integrate public and policy engagement activities for impact through social practice, informing policy and industry strategy.