Plastic is defined as a material that has a large molecular weight that contains organic material as an essential substance. Approximately 21 million tons of plastic were consumed in India total in 2021. Millions of people's livelihoods, food production, and social well-being might all be adversely affected by plastic pollution, which also has the potential to alter ecosystems and natural processes and reduce ecosystems' ability to adapt to changing conditions. When you consider that just 12.3% of the 5.54 million tons of plastic trash generated in our country alone annually receives recycled, a sustainable approach to managing plastic waste is desperately needed. Traditional methods, like as landfills. The increasing issue of solid waste, with a focus on plastic waste, has led to research into alternative sustainable waste management techniques. This essay discusses the pressing environmental problems related to solid waste, particularly plastics. It highlights the importance of putting into practice a systematic approach that adheres to the highest ecological standards. One possible solution in this regard is the biodegradation of polymers by microorganisms isolated from landfills. This method effectively and sustainably transforms polymers into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. Finding microbes and enzymes that can break down plastics has been the focus of extensive study in recent years. With an emphasis on current developments and discoveries in this field, this study therefore examines the shortcomings of traditional plastic waste treatment and dives into microbiological-based strategies. It is emphasized how important it is to have environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives in order to fight plastic pollution. As a result, this study also examines the present difficulties in plastic biodegradation and highlights opportunities for further development of plastic biodegradation technology.
A Brief study on Plastic-Degrading Microbes: Opportunities, Mechanisms, and Challenges in Bioremediation
Department of Biotechnology, Meerut Institute of Engineering and Technology, Meerut-250005, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Abstract
Plastic is defined as a material that has a large molecular weight that contains organic material as an essential substance. Approximately 21 million tons of plastic were consumed in India total in 2021. Millions of people's livelihoods, food production, and social well-being might all be adversely affected by plastic pollution, which also has the potential to alter ecosystems and natural processes and reduce ecosystems' ability to adapt to changing conditions. When you consider that just 12.3% of the 5.54 million tons of plastic trash generated in our country alone annually receives recycled, a sustainable approach to managing plastic waste is desperately needed. Traditional methods, like as landfills. The increasing issue of solid waste, with a focus on plastic waste, has led to research into alternative sustainable waste management techniques. This essay discusses the pressing environmental problems related to solid waste, particularly plastics. It highlights the importance of putting into practice a systematic approach that adheres to the highest ecological standards. One possible solution in this regard is the biodegradation of polymers by microorganisms isolated from landfills. This method effectively and sustainably transforms polymers into carbon dioxide, water, and biomass. Finding microbes and enzymes that can break down plastics has been the focus of extensive study in recent years. With an emphasis on current developments and discoveries in this field, this study therefore examines the shortcomings of traditional plastic waste treatment and dives into microbiological-based strategies. It is emphasized how important it is to have environmentally friendly and sustainable alternatives in order to fight plastic pollution. As a result, this study also examines the present difficulties in plastic biodegradation and highlights opportunities for further development of plastic biodegradation technology.
Keywords: Plastic, Microbe, Environment, Pollution, Biodegradation
Introduction
Plastics are one of the most persistent pollutants in the climate since they make up around 80% of the trash that is found in landfills, lagoons, and rural regions. Between 110,000 and 730,000 tons more plastics are transported to farmland activities than to coastal areas [1]. Plastics from family activities are leaking over and building up in the WTP sludge. After then, it relocated to rural soils, where it prefers to grow. The spread of harmful and alien organisms is triggered by the collection and adsorption of these impermeable polymers [2]. Animals gulping because their supper was misunderstanding as a trap and set up is an additional detrimental consequence. Accordingly, a lot of initiatives have been made to cut down on waste made of plastics. The forecast has been claimed that a variety of microorganisms have a knack for metabolize plastics. These species include Aspergillus, Streptococcus, Bacillus, Penicillium, Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, and Moraxella [3]. Recently, it has been demonstrated that the organism Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6 thrives on PET films with insufficient crystallinity. Using specific enzymes like PET hydrolase (PETase) and mono (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalic acid hydrolase (MHETase), this bacterium hydrolyses PET into ethylene glycol (EG) and terephthalic acid (TPA) monomers, which are then further broken down. They attracted interest from all around the world because of the possibility of employing these enzymes for PET bioconversion [4, 5]. Food makers need to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of their alternatives when selecting a packaging material. In accordance with the characteristics that define the food product's end-use, they could also think about what additional features could be added in the packaging material. A platform based on Pseudomonas putida KT2442 has been designed using metabolic engineering techniques in order to produce unique PHA homo polymers [6]. Using this platform, distinct pure monomers may be eliminated by microbes instead of mixed monomers from PHA breakdown or in vivo hydrolyzation [7]. Plastic waste is recognized to be caused by the widespread use of polyethylene terephthalate plastics for food containers, films, fibers, and bottles, which harms both terrestrial and marine ecosystems [8, 9]. The conundrum is whether there is now a methodical approach to addressing pollution issues without causing further environmental damage. In light of this, I plan to investigate the potential of employing insects that consume plastic to decompose plastic instead of more traditional techniques like burning, land filling, and recycling, which often have limited life spans and produce carcinogenic byproducts [10]. Nowadays, easily accessible techniques for recycling or breaking down plastics are dreadfully inadequate. The majority of plastic recycling involves a cycle of crushing and grinding that breaks up and frays the cellulose in the plastic, producing a lower-quality product. For example, the smooth plastic of a water bottle deteriorates with each cycle of reprocessing [11], but a glass or hollow metal container may be melted down and rebuilt indefinitely. Only 9% of plastic ever finds its way to a recycling facility. However, burning plastic releases carbon into the atmosphere along with any other harmful compounds it may contain, contributing to the environmental disaster.
The Growing Problem of Plastic Pollution
Due to inadequate origin discrimination, a lack of recovery programs, and a large percentage of trash ending up carelessly in landfills, our nation—a major producer and consumer of plastic—faces serious waste management challenges [12, 13]. Just 71% of the garbage produced in the nation can be processed from plastic. Inadequate facilities for garbage collection, sorting, and treatment frequently result in plastic debris clogging drainage systems, which exacerbates urban floods. Given that over 376 million people live in 793.8 cities and generate 61.5 million metric tons of municipal solid waste annually—of which only 43 million are collected [14], 11.9 million are treated, and 31 million winds up in landfills—India is experiencing a serious waste management crisis as a result of growing growth in urbanization. Plastic garbage alone makes up 5.6 million tons of the total amount of municipal solid waste produced; 70% of this debris is dumped in landfills, and 20% is burned. Plastic deterioration rates range from 100 to 1000 years [15], suggesting that earlier-invented polymers could still be present in the environment. According to some estimates, the amount of plastic debris in the oceans may equal the number of fish by 2035. Because of their inherent stability and endurance, plastic materials show little natural deterioration in the environment. Numerous environmental elements, such as heat, sunlight, chemical reactions, biological activity, and physical characteristics like molecular weight, density, and polymer size, all have an impact on the degrading process.
Role of Microorganisms in Plastic Degradation
A long-term strategy is needed to deal with the increasing volume of plastic waste because biodegradable technologies have limitations and conventional synthetic plastics are still necessary. To solve this pressing issue, a lot of effort has been paid to the study of novel microbes and enzymes that can effectively enhance the natural breakdown of conventional plastics. [16]. Because it operates at milder and less energy-intensive circumstances than the previously described technologies, the plastic natural degradation process is thought to be a more sustainable and ecologically benign method. Microorganisms use a variety of enzymatic reactions that are coordinated by several microbial communities to break down plastic trash.
Aerobic biodegradation:
Aerobic biodegradation occurs in the presence of oxygen because aerobic bacteria need oxygen as an electron acceptor at the terminal for their metabolic processes. Plastic molecules are broken down into simpler components like CO2, water, and biomass via oxidation reactions facilitated by oxygen in aerobic environments. In oxygen-rich settings including soils, surface waterways [17], and compost piles, this activity is frequently seen. Because of its larger energy production, anaerobic biodegradation is typically faster and more efficient than anaerobic biodegradation.
Anaerobic biodegradation:
Anaerobic bacteria, on the other hand, use alternate electron acceptors like nitrate or sulphate to carry out anaerobic biodegradation, which takes place without oxygen. Through fermentation and anaerobic respiration, microbes decompose plastic polymers in anaerobic environments, producing many Natural acids, sprit, and gases like carbon dioxide and methane [18]. Anaerobic biodegradation typically occurs in oxygen-deficient environments, such as deep soils, sediments, and digesters that lack oxygen. A variety of factors influence biodegradation, including the polymer's characteristics, the organism's kind, the pre-treatment technique, and environmental elements including temperature [19], pH, moisture content, and nutrient availability. Many of the polymer's properties, such as its accessibility, crystallinity, atomic weight, functional groups, substituent, and polymers or additives, have a major impact on how quickly it degrades.
Microbiological Agents and plastic that breaks down Compounds
The kind of bonds that hold the monomers together is the primary factor influencing the biodegradability of plastic polymers. Synthetic polymers with C-C backbones are resistant to breakdown, while synthetic plastics with hydrolysable C-X molecular backbones, such polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and polyurethane (PUR), have become appealing candidates for biodegradation. [20]. It is polymers biodegrade more quickly, particularly in environments that encourage the growth of specific microbes including Aspergillus, Bacillus, and Pseudomonas. Microbial compounds play a crucial role in the biodegradation of plastic materials by facilitating the breakdown of various polymers in their native environments. [21]. Numerous microorganisms, including actinomycetes, algae, bacteria, and fungus, have been shown in recent research to have the ability to biodegrade many molecular of plastic polymers. The capacity of more than 56 bacterial and fungal species from 25 genera—mostly found in soils and landfills—to break down polyethylene has been discovered. Although it has been discovered that Ideonella sakaiensis, Thermobifida fusca, Aspergillus niger, and Bacillus subtilis degrade PET, bacteria that are known to break down polyethylene include Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Streptomyces, and Rhodococcus ruber. [22]. Fusarium solani and Curvularia senegalensis have also demonstrated the ability to degrade PUR. It has been shown that bacteria of marine origins, as Bacillus sp., can break down PVC and PE. Actinomycetes and microalgae, including Streptomyces and Rhodococcusruber, have also shown that they can break down plastic by reducing the production of energy to weaken the bonds between molecules and using polymers as the carbon source. However, microbes degrade plastic at a rather sluggish rate, which presents difficulties for real-world industrial uses.
Challenges in plastic biodegradation
Current research on the biodegradation of plastics has several problems, one of which is the lack of a standard method for accurately evaluating and contrasting the plastic-utilization capacities of separate microbes and their related proteins. A number of methods have been used to measure biodegradation, including weight loss, biofilm development, and tensile strength reduction [23]. But because of this variability, there isn't a widely recognized methodology for comparing the results of different plastic biodegradation investigations. A complete understanding of the enzymatic biodegradation mechanism is impeded by the absence of substantial molecular characterisation research on plastic-degrading enzymes. Maximizing the useful uses of enzymes requires this knowledge. Molecular characterization of these enzymes can help implement amino acids science methods to improve the stability and activity of plastic-degrading enzymes for industrial applications. [24]. Even though PET-degrading enzymes have been the focus of the majority of enzyme characterization and protein engineering studies, these approaches can be used as a guide for future studies that seek to identify and characterize additional plastic-degrading enzymes in order to achieve efficient biodegradation of conventional plastic.
Conclusions
Plastics are essential to our everyday lives and provide ease, but they also provide trash disposal issues. One important topic covered in this study is the relationship between greenhouse gas emissions and the management of plastic garbage. Climate change and the environment are greatly impacted by the present plastic management strategy. By using bioremediation, in which microorganisms break down plastic trash, it may be possible to lower carbon emissions and create a more sustainable future. Continuous research is required to develop novel digestive enzymes and bacteria that can degrade various types of plastic, despite the fact that microbes and enzymes have demonstrated some short-term effectiveness with polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Waste-to-energy plants and other innovative technologies have promise, particularly for difficult-to-reach goals like plastics. However, the strict use of emission control measures to safeguard the environment is necessary for these plans to be successful. The combined challenges of managing plastic trash and reducing greenhouse gas emissions can be successfully addressed by public involvement, technical developments, smart policymaking, etc.
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