Enzymatic upcycling of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) into high performance polyamides

Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is a widely used polyester that is a major contributor to environmental plastic waste. Recent efforts have demonstrated that PET can be broken down using enzymes. However, is it possible to upcycle PET waste into higher value products using a green enzyme based method? One high value product that shares much chemistry with PET are polyphthalamides (high performance polyamides, PPA). PPAs are a thermal and chemically stable polymer that has many uses in the automotive, medical and electronic industry, as well as being fully recyclable. A multi enzyme, green process, for simultaneous degradation of PET into PPA would be a major result in demonstrating that PET waste presents a viable feedstock. Not just for recycling of PET but also for other plastics of higher value.