Enzyme Catalyzed Hydrolysis of Synthetic Polymers

Traditional plastics pose a grave threat to the environment with several hundred million tons of plastics being accumulated as waste. With conventional approaches requiring extreme temperatures and harsh conditions, degradation or recyclability achieved via enzymatic methods offer a meaningful alternative. In this chapter, we discuss enzymes that have been utilized for polymer degradation. We highlighted strategies to improve stability and catalytic efficiencies of these enzymes via protein engineering or anchoring peptides/domains to the catalytic domain or using additives that can enhance the binding of these enzymes to polymeric surfaces.