Plastic waste is an outstanding environmental thread. Poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is one of the most abundantly produced single-use plastics worldwide, while its recycling rates are low. In parallel, additive manufacturing is a rapidly evolving technology with wide-ranging applications. Thus, there is a need for a broad spectrum of polymers to meet the demands of this growing industry and address post-use waste materials. This perspective article highlights the potential of designing microbial cell factories to upcycle PET into functionalized chemical building blocks for additive manufacturing. We present the leveraging of PET hydrolyzing enzymes and rewiring the bacterial C2 and aromatic catabolic pathways to obtain high-value chemicals and polymers. Since PET mechanical recycling back to original materials is cost-prohibitive, the biochemical technology is a viable alternative to upcycle PET into novel 3D printing materials, such as replacements for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The presented hybrid chemo-bio approaches potentially enable the manufacturing of environmentally friendly degradable or higher-value high-performance polymers and composites and their reuse for a circular economy.

中文翻译：

---

通过微生物生物转化将废弃 PET 重新利用为增材制造的功能化材料

塑料废物是一种突出的环保线索。聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET) 是全球产量最丰富的一次性塑料之一，但其回收率较低。与此同时，增材制造是一项快速发展的技术，具有广泛的应用。因此，需要广泛的聚合物来满足这个不断发展的行业的需求并解决用后废料的问题。这篇透视文章强调了设计微生物细胞工厂将 PET 升级为用于增材制造的功能化化学构件的潜力。我们展示了利用 PET 水解酶和重新连接细菌 C2 和芳香族分解代谢途径来获得高价值的化学品和聚合物。由于 PET 机械回收回原始材料的成本高昂，因此生化技术是将 PET 升级为新型 3D 打印材料的可行替代方案，例如丙烯腈丁二烯苯乙烯 (ABS) 的替代品。所提出的混合化学-生物方法有可能实现环保可降解或更高价值的高性能聚合物和复合材料的制造及其对循环经济的再利用。