REPLAY project

The prospects of using green chemistry principles and enzymatic biodiversity for the sustainable degradation of traditionally non-biodegradable plastics is now coming real after the last advances with the use and formulation of nature-inspired Deep Eutectic Solvents (DESs) for PET pre-treatment and with the discovery of enzymes able to degrade PET, PE and PP. The vision is to create a plastic waste-based process that will avoid the down-cycling of plastics and at the same time the upgrading of the plastic waste hydrolysate by producing biochemical platforms. More specifically, we will implement the use of systems and synthetic biology, (bio)chemical and (bio)process engineering for enabling yeasts to convert PET degradation products into organic acids. The recombinant cell factories will be also armed to endure the working conditions, mimicking the industrial operative conditions. Overall, discovery of novel enzymes and degradation protocols, quantitative metabolic description of novel yeast cell factories for the valorisation of plastic degradation products will be pursued. Ultimately, these new technologies will be developed and tested, creating a virtuous “Design-Build-Test-Learn” (DBTL) cycle. The microbiological-based valorisation of the PET degradation products, enzymatically or chemically generated, will create a novel value chain, and a hybrid refinery model that will introduce plastics into the Circular Economy.