University of Greifswald together with Covestro use biocatalysts to degrade plastics

In Germany, the plastic materials polyurethane and polyvinyl alcohol can now be degraded under mild conditions with the help of enzymes as biocatalysts. Scientists from the University of Greifswald have developed corresponding methods together with the German company Covestro and teams from Leipzig and Dublin, as recently published in the journal Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., in two separate articles (DOI: 10.1002/anie.202216220 and DOI: 10.1002/anie.202216962). It has thus been possible to establish a sustainable and environmentally-friendly process to recycle these polymers. This helps to address the worldwide problem of plastic waste based on the example of these two synthetic polymers, which are produced industrially at large scale.