scholarly journals Microbial fermentation of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste for the production of chemicals and electricity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shafeer Kalathil ◽  
Melanie Miller ◽  
Erwin reisner
Keyword(s):  
Polyethylene Terephthalate ◽  
Terephthalic Acid ◽  
Fermentation Process ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Geobacter Sulfurreducens ◽  
Microbial Fermentation ◽  
Anaerobic Conditions ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Hydrolysis Products ◽  
Substrate Level

Ideonella sakaiensis (I. sakaiensis) can grow on polyethylene terephthalate (PET) as the sole carbon and energy source. Previous work has shown that conversion of the hydrolysis products terephthalic acid (TPA) and ethylene glycol (EG) under aerobic conditions released carbon dioxide and water while yielding adenosine triphosphate (ATP) through oxidative phosphorylation. This study demonstrates that under anaerobic conditions I. sakaiensis ferments PET to the feedstock chemicals acetate and ethanol while co-producing ATP by substrate-level phosphorylation. In addition to PET, maltose, EG, and ethanol can also serve as fermenting substrates. Co-culturing of I. sakaiensis with electrogenic Geobacter sulfurreducens produced electricity from PET or EG. This newly identified plastic fermentation process by I. sakaiensis provides a novel biosynthetic route to produce high-value chemicals and electricity from plastic waste streams.

scholarly journals Extending Multilevel Statistical Entropy Analysis towards Plastic Recyclability Prediction

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3553
Author(s):  
Philippe Nimmegeers ◽  
Alexej Parchomenko ◽  
Paul De Meulenaere ◽  
Dagmar R. D’hooge ◽  
Paul H. M. Van Steenberge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Circular Economy ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Entropy Analysis ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
Statistical Entropy ◽  
Waste Streams ◽  
Material Component ◽  
Future Work

Multilevel statistical entropy analysis (SEA) is a method that has been recently proposed to evaluate circular economy strategies on the material, component and product levels to identify critical stages of resource and functionality losses. However, the comparison of technological alternatives may be difficult, and equal entropies do not necessarily correspond with equal recyclability. A coupling with energy consumption aspects is strongly recommended but largely lacking. The aim of this paper is to improve the multilevel SEA method to reliably assess the recyclability of plastics. Therefore, the multilevel SEA method is first applied to a conceptual case study of a fictitious bag filled with plastics, and the possibilities and limitations of the method are highlighted. Subsequently, it is proposed to extend the method with the computation of the relative decomposition energies of components and products. Finally, two recyclability metrics are proposed. A plastic waste collection bag filled with plastic bottles is used as a case study to illustrate the potential of the developed extended multilevel SEA method. The proposed extension allows us to estimate the recyclability of plastics. In future work, this method will be refined and other potential extensions will be studied together with applications to real-life plastic products and plastic waste streams.

scholarly journals Generating alternative fuel and bioplastics from medical plastic waste and waste frying oil using microwave co-pyrolysis combined with microbial fermentation

2022 ◽  
Vol 153 ◽  
pp. 111790
Author(s):  
Wan Adibah Wan Mahari ◽  
Seng Hon Kee ◽  
Shin Ying Foong ◽  
Tan Suet May Amelia ◽  
Kesaven Bhubalan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alternative Fuel ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Frying Oil ◽  
Microbial Fermentation ◽  
Waste Frying Oil ◽  
Medical Plastic

scholarly journals Microbial Transformations of Organically Fermented Foods

Metabolites ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruma Raghuvanshi ◽  
Allyssa G. Grayson ◽  
Isabella Schena ◽  
Onyebuchi Amanze ◽  
Kezia Suwintono ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Natural Products ◽  
Fermentation Process ◽  
Molecular Diversity ◽  
Food Type ◽  
Fermented Foods ◽  
Microbial Fermentation ◽  
Soil Community ◽  
Specialized Metabolites ◽  
The World ◽  
Salt Brine

Fermenting food is an ancient form of preservation ingrained many in human societies around the world. Westernized diets have moved away from such practices, but even in these cultures, fermented foods are seeing a resurgent interested due to their believed health benefits. Here, we analyze the microbiome and metabolome of organically fermented vegetables, using a salt brine, which is a common ‘at-home’ method of food fermentation. We found that the natural microbial fermentation had a strong effect on the food metabolites, where all four foods (beet, carrot, peppers and radishes) changed through time, with a peak in molecular diversity after 2–3 days and a decrease in diversity during the final stages of the 4-day process. The microbiome of all foods showed a stark transition from one that resembled a soil community to one dominated by Enterobacteriaceae, such as Erwinia spp., within a single day of fermentation and increasing amounts of Lactobacillales through the fermentation process. With particular attention to plant natural products, we observed significant transformations of polyphenols, triterpenoids and anthocyanins, but the degree of this metabolism depended on the food type. Beets, radishes and peppers saw an increase in the abundance of these compounds as the fermentation proceeded, but carrots saw a decrease through time. This study showed that organically fermenting vegetables markedly changed their chemistry and microbiology but resulted in high abundance of Enterobacteriaceae which are not normally considered as probiotics. The release of beneficial plant specialized metabolites was observed, but this depended on the fermented vegetable.

The formation of p-toluic acid from coumalic acid: a reaction network analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (14) ◽  
pp. 3263-3271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Pfennig ◽  
Robert L. Johnson ◽  
Brent H. Shanks
Keyword(s):  
Network Analysis ◽  
Polyethylene Terephthalate ◽  
Terephthalic Acid ◽  
Alternative Pathway ◽  
Reaction Network ◽  
Diels Alder

Diels–Alder cycloaddition of biomass-derived 2-pyrone coumalic acid (CMA) with propylene provides an alternative pathway to produce toluic acid (TA), a precursor to terephthalic acid (TPA) which is a key component in the manufacture of polyethylene terephthalate (PET).

scholarly journals Recent advances in biocatalysts engineering for polyethylene terephthalate plastic waste green recycling

2020 ◽  
Vol 145 ◽  
pp. 106144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia A. Samak ◽  
Yunpu Jia ◽  
Moustafa M. Sharshar ◽  
Tingzhen Mu ◽  
Maohua Yang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Polyethylene Terephthalate ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
Recent Advances
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