The future of plastic-recycling: Breaking it back down into hydrocarbons via enzymes.

[DetlefK]

Originally, it was discovered that wax-worms (moth-larvae) can digest plastic. But that process was too slow.

So scientists investigated the enzymes that break down the plastic, and then they ran evolutionary computer-simulations on the molecules, mutating it, to find how they should modify the molecule to make them more effective. The biggest challenge is making the enzyme work in different chemical environments: Different pH-values, different temperatures...

They can already break down plastic in the lab, turning it into liquid hydrocarbons. The next challenge is to scale this up into an industrial process.

And the hydrocarbons? They can be re-used for all kinds of petrochemical products.