(569fn) Plastic Recycling By a Metallohydrolase Mimic

The mimicry of plastic-eating enzymes will help us better cope with the global plastic challenge. Here we discover a robust synthetic catalyst that features a biomimetic intramolecular pathway for polyester depolymerization, which not merely enables environmental degradation of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and other polyesters, but also affords industrial-scale PET recycling under mild conditions. The specific activity of the catalyst toward PET depolymerization approaches 50% of Humicola insolens cutinase's at pH 8 and 40 ^oC. The structural stability of this enzyme mimic results in industrially feasible productivity of 70 g L^-1 h^-1 of terephthalate for centralized PET recycling. Besides, this synthetic “enzyme” is catalytically active toward 14 different types of polymers with high tolerance to additives and impurities.