Figure 1: Two alternative bio-upcycling routes for PET waste to novel biopolymers. PET hydrolysis is catalyzed by a thermostable polyester hydrolase. The resulting monomers EG and TA (blue and red, respectively) are fed to an engineered P. putida, which synthesizes either extracellular HAA (green), or the intracellular biopolymer PHA (cyan). While PHA is already a polymer, HAA is co-polymerized with a diisocyanate and butanediol (orange) to yield a novel bio-based poly(amide urethane) (bio-PU).
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