ABSTRACT
Bioplastics are certainly a potent innovation, revolutionizing the plastic crisis; but are they truly sustainable, or do they run the risk of perpetuating the current scenario of plastic disposal? The chapter reviews the contemporary technologies for bio-polymers/plastic recycling without the use of plants or water, engrossing the role of microbiota in the biodegradation process. The biodegradation technologies for bioplastics majorly include mechanical recycling, organic (composting or anaerobic digestion), or enzymatic depolymerization (enzyme catalyzed and non-enzymatic hydrolysis). The organic (microbial) biodegradation/recycling of bioplastics is a very slow process, likely to be affected by chemical structure of the plastic and environmental exposure conditions. Certain innate microbial communities, such as algae, bacteria, and fungi have successfully degraded the bioplastics either naturally or in blended forms (bio-composites). Despite the sufficient narratives about biodegradable nature of the bioplastics, their origin does not address the life cycle assessments for its proper disposal. The blurry prognosis of the polymer persistence in the environment ends up creating a lot of barriers to practice recycling. Through this chapter, the rationale for microbiota-mediated recycling approach to generate “sustainable bioplastic” has been accentuated.
