Biodegradable plastic modification from durian seed starch and shrimp chitosan with the addition of plasticiziers glycerol and polyglycerol using microwaves

Plastic waste takes up to 450 years to decompose. These problems can be overcome by creating other alternatives, one of which is by using biodegradable plastic. Biodegradable plastics are plastics made from natural polymers that are easily degraded by microorganisms. This study aims to examine the effect of the amount of plasticizer on the length of the degradation process and the effect of using microwaves on the length of time for molding biodegradable plastic. This biodegradable plastic is made by combining durian seed starch, shrimp chitosan and plasticizers in the form of glycerol and polyglycerol with volume variations of 1 mL, 2 mL, 3 mL, 4 mL, and 5 mL. This polymerization was carried out using a microwave with a power of 100 watts for 60 minutes. The resulting biodegradable plastics were characterized using the FTIR test, the Mechanical Properties test, the Absorbency test, and the Biodegradation test to determine the quality of the biodegradable plastic. The results of this study indicate the greatest tensile strength value is 1.9768 MPa, the largest elongation value is 21.2772%, the smallest water absorption is 45.40% for 5 minutes, and the largest degraded mass is 0.908 grams for 7 days. Based on this research, it can be concluded that the use of polyglycerol can accelerate the plastic degradation process. In addition, the use of microwaves can speed up the molding time of biodegradable plastics.

The Potential Role of Marine Fungi in Plastic Degradation – A Review

Plastic debris has been accumulating in the marine realm since the start of plastic mass production in the 1950s. Due to the adverse effects on ocean life, the fate of plastics in the marine environment is an increasingly important environmental issue. Microbial degradation, in addition to weathering, has been identified as a potentially relevant breakdown route for marine plastic debris. Although many studies have focused on microbial colonization and the potential role of microorganisms in breaking down marine plastic debris, little is known about fungi-plastic interactions. Marine fungi are a generally understudied group of microorganisms but the ability of terrestrial and lacustrine fungal taxa to metabolize recalcitrant compounds, pollutants, and some plastic types (e.g., lignin, solvents, pesticides, polyaromatic hydrocarbons, polyurethane, and polyethylene) indicates that marine fungi could be important degraders of complex organic matter in the marine realm, too. Indeed, recent studies demonstrated that some fungal strains from the ocean, such as Zalerion maritimum have the ability to degrade polyethylene. This mini-review summarizes the available information on plastic-fungi interactions in marine environments. We address (i) the currently known diversity of fungi colonizing marine plastic debris and provide (ii) an overview of methods applied to investigate the role of fungi in plastic degradation, highlighting their advantages and drawbacks. We also highlight (iii) the underestimated role of fungi as plastic degraders in marine habitats.

Expression of a Cutinase of Moniliophthora roreri with Polyester and PET-Plastic Residues Degradation Activity

Plastic pollution is exponentially increasing; even the G20 has recognized an urgent need to implement actions to reduce it. In recent years, searching for enzymes that can degrade plastics, especially those based on polyesters such as PET, has been increasing as they can be a green alternative to the actual plastic degradation process.

Microbial Degradation of Plastics and Approaches to Make it More Efficient

Abstract— The growing worldwide production of synthetic plastics leads to increased amounts of plastic pollution. Even though microbial degradation of plastics is known to be a very slow process, this capacity has been found in many bacteria, including invertebrate symbionts, and microscopic fungi. Research in this field has been mostly focused on microbial degradation of polyethylene, polystyrene, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Quite an arsenal of different methods is available today for detecting processes of plastic degradation and measuring their rates. Given the lack of generally accepted protocols, it is difficult to compare results presented by different authors. PET degradation by recombinant hydrolases from thermophilic actinobacteria happens to be the most efficient among the currently known plastic degradation processes. Various approaches to accelerating microbial plastic degradation are also discussed.

Plastic-Degrading Potential across the Global Microbiome Correlates with Recent Pollution Trends

Utilization of synthetic biology approaches to enhance current plastic degradation processes is of crucial importance, as natural plastic degradation processes are very slow. For instance, the predicted lifetime of a polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottle under ambient conditions ranges from 16 to 48 years.