Environmentally Friendly, Bioengineered Eco Plastics

Scientists in South Korea representing two institutions have used bioengineering techniques to create polymers - the raw materials used in plastics.  In so doing, they have pointed the way towards a new age of environmentally friendly plastic creation – ‘eco plastic’, in other words.  

Polymers are molecular structures featuring a network of linked monomers, and they occur both as a result of natural processes and human invention.  Plastics incorporate polymers but – as the head researcher involved in the South Korean research explained – the majority draw on industrial processes.  “The polyesters and other polymers we use everyday are mostly derived from fossil oils made through the refinery or chemical process”, Professor Sang Yup Lee said.  “The idea of producing polymers from renewable biomass has attracted much attention due to the increasing concerns of environmental problems and the limited nature of fossil resources.  PLA [Polylactic Acid] is considered a good alternative to petroleum based plastics as it is both biodegradable and has a low toxicity to humans.”

Biodegradable Plastics

Polylactic acid is not a new invention – its actually been around for over 100 years.  However, scientific interest in it has grown stronger in recent times on account of its biodegradability and – in extension of this – its ability to produce biodegradable plastics.

The South Korean scientists involved in the new research – the results of which appear in the current edition of the Biotechnology and Bioengineering journal – represent both chemicals firm LG Chem and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (abbreviated to KAIST).  Prior to their intervention, the production of PLA took place in two stages, was difficult to achieve and was costly.  The scientists, though, have filtered it down to a single stage process which uses a bioengineered form of E.Coli (Escherichia coli). 

Environmentally Friendly Plastics

In doing this, they have raised the prospect of low-cost, environmentally friendly and commercially viable PLA, from which environmentally friendly plastics can be derived.

“By developing a strategy which combines metabolic engineering and enzyme engineering, we've developed an efficient bio-based one-step production process for PLA and its copolymers”, Lee highlighted.  He added: “Global warming and other environmental problems are urging us to develop sustainable processes based on renewable resources. 

“This new strategy should be generally useful for developing other engineered organisms capable of producing various unnatural polymers by direct fermentation from renewable resources.”