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Volume 8
Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials
ISSN: 2155-952X
Euro Biotechnology 2018
October 11-12, 2018
October 11-12, 2018 | Moscow, Russia
21
st
European
Biotechnology Congress
conferenceseries
.com
Page 55
Biodegradation of plastic waste by using microalgae and their toxins
Prakash M Bhuyar
Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Malaysia
T
oday the use of plastic wastes (high density and low density polyethylene) have become an unavoidable entity of
human life, these wastes continuously accumulating in the environment and becoming worldwide ecological threat.
This accumulation can be hazardous and may cause some environmental disturbances. The conventional methods
used for polymer degradation including landfill, incineration and chemical treatment are causing harmful effect to
the surrounding environment and living things due to their non-degrading nature. A better idea for the complete
degradation of plastic has not yet been identified; so their complete disposal is still a major problem. Although to
solve this tremendously growing issue, biological mode of polythene degradation protocol may be discovered and
expanded in the future. Biodegradation is an effective option for eco-friendly degradation of plastic waste because
biodegradable plastics are environment friendly; they have an expanding range of potential application and are driven
by the growing use of plastics in packaging. In recent years considerable attention has been focused on biodegradability
of polymeric materials mainly due to the pollution in the environment created by plastic waste and no protocol has yet
been developed to feasibly degrade polyethylene by biodegradation on commercial scale. Polyethylenes are carbon and
hydrogen polymers, exceptional resistant to biological decay. It is estimated that polythene would degrade less than 0.5%
over 100 years, degradation mainly depends on temperature, light exposure, oxygen and moisture availability. The two
possible approaches to reduce the plastic waste are: to develop biodegradable commodity plastics from fossil fuel and
/or renewable resources building blocks (hydro-biodegradable) or reengineering of full carbon backbone commodity
polymers (Oxo-biodegradable) and to identify potential micro-algae and its toxins to develop protocol to effectively
biodegrade the polymeric materials. The present study is an attempt to assess algal diversity in plastic contaminated area
using molecular approach and to isolate potential indigenous microalgae and its toxins for the efficient degradation of
plastics. Biodegradation is promoted by various microalgae and simple or multiple toxin systems, with the enzymes
being synthesized by microalgae involving reduction in the energy of activation and weaken the chemical bonds in the
polymer, thereby decreasing the energy required for degradation. Our main goal is to conversion of these plastics by
microalgae into metabolites such as CO
2
, H
2
O and new cell biomass (i.e. mineralization).
prasadmbhuyar@gmail.comJ Biotechnol Biomater 2018, Volume 8
DOI: 10.4172/2155-952X-C5-101