Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction

Millions of metric tonnes of plastic waste are generated every year, with a minimal portion being recycled. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find effective and sustainable methods for plastic degradation, especially polyethylene, the most manufactured polymer globally. Here, we emulate the stra...

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Autores: Buron-Moles, Gemma, Vandenbossche, V., Gorret, N., Santonja-Blasco, L., González-Aranda, T., Cameleyre, X., Guillouet, S.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
Repositorio:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
OAI Identifier:oai:repositori.irta.cat:20.500.12327/3738
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/3738
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2025.111292
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:620
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spelling Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reductionBuron-Moles, GemmaVandenbossche, V.Gorret, N.Santonja-Blasco, L.González-Aranda, T.Cameleyre, X.Guillouet, S.620Millions of metric tonnes of plastic waste are generated every year, with a minimal portion being recycled. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find effective and sustainable methods for plastic degradation, especially polyethylene, the most manufactured polymer globally. Here, we emulate the strategies documented for beetles, characterized by a combination of physical, chemical, and microbiological treatments, to biodegrade low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Importantly, we characterize LDPE degradation through multiple techniques, including weight loss analysis, FTIR, GPC, GC–MS, and SEM, which allowed us to identify the optimal combination of treatments to enhance LDPE biodegradation. Contrary to some expectations, we find that ultrasonication does not contribute to LDPE degradation but may instead protect against its fragmentation. However, we successfully introduce carbonyl groups into the polymer backbone, by simply exposing LDPE to environmentally friendly anionic surfactant. This pretreatment effectively cleaves LDPE by approximately 9%, breaking it into shorter carbon chains that are more accessible to microbes for subsequent biodegradation. The yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, isolated from fuel tanks and able to grow in n-paraffines, not only outperforms other microbes in assays of short carbon chain degradation, but also attaches to the LDPE surface, where it survives and grows using LDPE as sole carbon source. Our findings, therefore, pave the way for further developing a potential solution to plastic waste, calling for interdisciplinary research and innovative solutions in tackling global environmental challenges.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No. 840038 (Buron-Moles, Gemma). It was also supported by the Beatriu de Pinós Program of the Government of Catalonia's Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR), grant number BP-2021–00069 (Buron-Moles, Gemma). GPC experiments were funded by the Academic and Research Institutions Program of Polymer Char, S.A.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionElsevierProducció AnimalSostenibilitat en Biosistemes202520252025info:eu-repo/semantics/article13application/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/3738https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2025.111292reponame:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archiveinstname:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)InglésPolymer Degradation and StabilityEC/H2020/840038/EU/A solution for plastic waste pollution/SOLFORPLASAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:repositori.irta.cat:20.500.12327/37382026-06-16T08:51:17Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
title Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
spellingShingle Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
Buron-Moles, Gemma
620
title_short Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
title_full Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
title_fullStr Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
title_full_unstemmed Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
title_sort Biodegradation of pre-treated Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE) by Yarrowia lipolytica determined by oxidation and molecular weight reduction
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Buron-Moles, Gemma
Vandenbossche, V.
Gorret, N.
Santonja-Blasco, L.
González-Aranda, T.
Cameleyre, X.
Guillouet, S.
author Buron-Moles, Gemma
author_facet Buron-Moles, Gemma
Vandenbossche, V.
Gorret, N.
Santonja-Blasco, L.
González-Aranda, T.
Cameleyre, X.
Guillouet, S.
author_role author
author2 Vandenbossche, V.
Gorret, N.
Santonja-Blasco, L.
González-Aranda, T.
Cameleyre, X.
Guillouet, S.
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Producció Animal
Sostenibilitat en Biosistemes
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv 620
topic 620
description Millions of metric tonnes of plastic waste are generated every year, with a minimal portion being recycled. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find effective and sustainable methods for plastic degradation, especially polyethylene, the most manufactured polymer globally. Here, we emulate the strategies documented for beetles, characterized by a combination of physical, chemical, and microbiological treatments, to biodegrade low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Importantly, we characterize LDPE degradation through multiple techniques, including weight loss analysis, FTIR, GPC, GC–MS, and SEM, which allowed us to identify the optimal combination of treatments to enhance LDPE biodegradation. Contrary to some expectations, we find that ultrasonication does not contribute to LDPE degradation but may instead protect against its fragmentation. However, we successfully introduce carbonyl groups into the polymer backbone, by simply exposing LDPE to environmentally friendly anionic surfactant. This pretreatment effectively cleaves LDPE by approximately 9%, breaking it into shorter carbon chains that are more accessible to microbes for subsequent biodegradation. The yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, isolated from fuel tanks and able to grow in n-paraffines, not only outperforms other microbes in assays of short carbon chain degradation, but also attaches to the LDPE surface, where it survives and grows using LDPE as sole carbon source. Our findings, therefore, pave the way for further developing a potential solution to plastic waste, calling for interdisciplinary research and innovative solutions in tackling global environmental challenges.
publishDate 2025
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2025
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/3738
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2025.111292
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12327/3738
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2025.111292
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv Polymer Degradation and Stability
EC/H2020/840038/EU/A solution for plastic waste pollution/SOLFORPLAS
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv 13
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Elsevier
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
instname:Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
instname_str Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA)
reponame_str IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
collection IRTA Pubpro. Open Digital Archive
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,812429

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