Engineering Enzymes to Depolymerize PE Nurdles

The sinking of the XPress Pearl in 2021 led to a significant environmental crisis, releasing over 1,680 tons of plastic pellets (nurdles) into the ocean. These nurdles, primarily composed of polyethylene (PE), are particularly harmful due to their persistence in the environment, contributing to marine pollution and threatening ecosystems. Current disposal methods for waste nurdles are inefficient, making it imperative to explore innovative approaches to tackle this challenge.

This project aims to produce, engineer and optimize enzymes reported to be capable of depolymerizing polyethylene (PE), such as that recovered from the XPress Pearl disaster. The project will purify and characterise potential PE-degrading enzymes produced using the fungal host Pichia pastoris. The production of the P. pastoris strains expressing these enzymes was accomplished in a previous OSRL-funded masters project. By further developing effective enzymatic breakdown of PE, we seek to create a sustainable solution for plastic waste remediation.

The sinking of the XPress Pearl in 2021 led to a significant environmental crisis, releasing over 1,680 tons of plastic pellets (nurdles) into the ocean. These nurdles, primarily composed of polyethylene (PE), are particularly harmful due to their persistence in the environment, contributing to marine pollution and threatening ecosystems. Current disposal methods for waste nurdles are inefficient, making it imperative to explore innovative approaches to tackle this challenge.

This project aims to produce, engineer and optimize enzymes reported to be capable of depolymerizing polyethylene (PE), such as that recovered from the XPress Pearl disaster. The project will purify and characterise potential PE-degrading enzymes produced using the fungal host Pichia pastoris. The production of the P. pastoris strains expressing these enzymes was accomplished in a previous OSRL-funded masters project. By further developing effective enzymatic breakdown of PE, we seek to create a sustainable solution for plastic waste remediation.

This project will provide a proof-of-concept for enzymatic degradation of PE nurdles, potentially enabling large-scale remediation efforts. Successful engineering of PE-degrading enzymes could offer a significant breakthrough in addressing plastic pollution from maritime disasters like XPress Pearl, paving the way for broader environmental applications.