An excellent process to generate a biobased product with little environmental impact is to break down a single-use product, such as plastic, into its monomers and reuse those monomers to recreate…

An excellent process to generate a biobased product with little environmental impact is to break down a single-use product, such as plastic, into its monomers and reuse those monomers to recreate the original product. If non-biodegradable plastics could be reused as high-quality plastics, positive impacts on the environment could be realized. Polyethylene terephthalate (pet) is accumulating in the environment at a staggering rate. Recycling of pet plastics in current methods requires the melting and reformation of a new plastic, causeing loss of function in the product. If pet is degraded to its monomers, IT could be repolymerized into new plastic without the reduction in quality. Industrial enzymes could fulfill this function.objectives: greenlab, INC. Proposes to use the corn kernel biofactory to commercialize plastic degrading enzymes. PHL7, identified and cloned from a compost BIN, can degrade pet into monomers at a commercially viable rate. The corn biofactory will produce this new enzyme. The maize-optimized vectors will betransiently transformed into maize embryos. A high-throughput assay will be developed to test activity of these small amounts of enzyme. Active enzyme vectors will be transformed stably into corn for phase II development.results and commercial applications: phase i is the first step in this process by introducing the petase transiently into corn prior to full scale, stable expression and use. We will partner with a plastic recycling/reuse company to commercialize the enzyme. This low-cost sustainable production platform is a major component of producing biobased plastics!