Microbial Mediated Biodegradation of Plastic Waste

Plastics are high molecular weight organic polymers with innumerable applications that have changed our society in myriad of ways. Problem with plastic lies in its safe disposal being non- biodegradable in nature thus posing serious threat to our environment. The rising plastic pollution has created growing concern among various stakeholders with a rising need to formulate innovative strategies and their proper implementation for effective plastic waste management. Among various strategies, biodegradation of plastic is an important alternative to reduce the magnitude of plastic waste. Biodegradation is primarily mediated by microbial enzymes, which can convert even recalcitrant polymers and oligomers into simple monomers thus facilitating their breakdown. Moreover, use of biodegradable plastics that are intrinsically more vulnerable to microbial attack should replace the conventional polymers. In this chapter, we provide the biodegradability based classification of plastic, mechanism and factor affecting biodegradation of plastic waste, involvement of important enzymes, current insight and future strategies to provide a sustainable direction for safer management of plastic pollution.