The power of CO2 for cristallizing TPA from PET
Author: Daniela Trambitas, Feyecon Introducing a groundbreaking achievement in the ENZYCLE project: We’ve harnessed the power of CO2 to successfully crystallize TPA from PET hydrolysed solutions, all without the need for any pre-purification steps. Witness the future of sustainability as we send our first solid batch to INDORAMA for re-polymerization, paving the way for the […]
Renewable materials for PET production
Author: Peter Spannring, Indorama Indorama is one of the leading partners in the production of pure PET pellets used for diapers, food contact materials (e.g. soft drink bottles) or textiles. Mixed plastic applications, such as copolymerized material with polyolefins, also show great potential, for example to give plastics more strength or better gas barrier properties. […]
ENZYCLE news No. 6
Our newsletter issue No 6 from June 2023 is now available! Enjoy reading about our highlights from the past 6 months. Not yet subscribed? Get our news directly in your mailbox here.
Specialized yeasts for the production of plastic degrading enzymes
Author: Mattijs Julsing, Wageningen Food & Biobased Research Microorganisms are the invisible heroes of biotechnology. Normally, society has a negative attitude towards microorganisms, as they are often associated with pathogenic properties. In fact, however, most microorganisms play a beneficial role for the entire ecosystem, and they do so in biotechnological approaches such as enzymatic plastic […]
From plastic waste, greenwashing, and an enzymatic solution
Author: Katrin Weinhandl, acib The climate crisis is omnipresent and more and more people are trying to make their consumer behaviour more sustainable. But a product is not always as “green” as the associated marketing suggests. When companies pretend that their products are sustainable, this is called “greenwashing”. When it comes to plastic waste, many […]
Podcast interview with Kristie Tanner from DARWIN
Little plastic eaters – please step forward! Evolution means the adaptation of an organism to environmental conditions. So did a variety of microorganisms, who have learned to use plastic components as an energy source. Would be interesting to find out who they are! Kristie Tanner from Darwin Bioprospecting Excellence in Valencia knows some of them […]
Can Escherichia coli, the working horse of biotechnology, get us out of plastic wastage?
Authors: Mathias Fink & Gerald Striedner, BOKU Plastics of various kinds have conquered almost all areas of human life and their properties allow a wide variety of applications. However, man’s careless use of plastic leads to ubiquitous environmental pollution (water, soil, air), and the common approach of single use followed by disposal through landfill or […]
The relevance of ethics in the development of enzymatic plastic recycling approaches
Author: Katrin Weinhandl, acib GmbH What does the topic of ethics have to do with research on enzymatic plastics recycling? Ethical considerations play an important role in any research approach that conforms to the concept of responsible research and innovation (RRI). Wikipedia explains RRI as a term that “describes scientific research and technological development processes […]
ENZYCLE News No 5
Our newsletter issue No 5 from December 2022 is now available! Enjoy reading about our highlights from the past 6 months. Not yet subscribed? Get our news directly in your mailbox here.
Harnessing new polymer-degrading enzymes directly from nature
Authors: Kristie Tanner, Darwin & Christian Sonnendecker, University of Leipzig Microorganisms can be found inhabiting even the most remote and extreme locations of our planet. Their extraordinary array of metabolic routes coupled with their rapid doubling time and high evolution rate, make them capable of adapting to almost any environment. For example, if an environment […]
