We have all heard of the mountains of plastic and unrecyclable litter in the ocean, expanding in size as each day passes. The majority of our plastic waste is unable to be recycled, posing a great threat to future generations. At Korea University (KU), Professor Kim Kyoung Heon and his research team partnered with researchers from the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) and Ewha Woman’s University to develop a solution that may change such a devastating reality once and for all. 

This research project is focused specifically on upcycling PET bottles into pharmaceutical materials. The results of the research have been published in the international science journal, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, and has since gained recognition from renowned organizations such as the Korea CCS 2020 Program from the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning. Professor Kim Kyoung Heon (Department of Biotechnology) and his team at Korea University developed the key technology behind the study, which broadly encompasses two steps: chemical degradation and biological conversion. 

The technology requires and produces great amounts of useful chemical and biological materials, making the overall process look quite complicated. The main ingredient used in plastic bottles, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), is first reacted with water and chemically degraded into two acids. The products are then converted into various other acids such as gallic acid and glycolic acid through biological conversions with microorganisms. These acids become raw and intermediate materials for other pharmaceutical products, which means that they can be reused as ingredients for cosmetics or aromatic products.

Before the team’s research, the recycling of PET bottles was quite difficult. “While it is widely known that PETs can be recycled, current recycling methods are less profitable and are faced with numerous limitations during the process of perfecting the quality of the end product,” explained Professor Kim. “We thought that a new strategy for recycling was necessary, so we developed a technology that would fuse chemical and biological methods to make PETs into different materials.”

Professor Kim and his team worked with Doctor Hee Taek Kim, Jeong Chan Joo, and Hyun Gil Cha’s group at KRICT, as well as Professor Si Jae Park’s group from Ewha Womans University. “PET recycling research was actually not something that our lab had been doing,” shared Professor Kim. “We originally broke down polymers from plants and animals and converted them to microbes.” Ultimately, the common goal of “doing research for the sustainability of mankind” had brought the experts together to meet rewarding results.

“Although the technology is still in development, the research is showing potential for materializing PET waste,” says Professor Kim. “Because the material dissolves easily into nature, it is expected to help with the circulation of the resources used to produce plastic bottles. In the future, we hope to develop more practical, industry-specific processes through further research.” 

As more high-level research is conducted in biotechnology and environmental engineering, the global population may be able to overcome our seemingly endless battle with plastic recycling. Professor Kim shares that he received a lot of support from his researchers and the KU Research and Business Foundation and hopes that similar efforts continue to help researchers to solve the problems surrounding plastic waste. It seems that our past struggles with plastic waste have thankfully been a true blessing in disguise.