Biodegradation of poly (ethylene terephthalate) by bacillus subtilis

Author: 
Asmae NAKKABI, Noureddine ELMOUALIJ, Moulay SADIKI, Saâd IBNSOUDA KORAICHI and Mohammed FAHIM

With the rapid development of poly (ethylene terephthalate) (PET) and its wide use in industry, there is a substantial fraction by volume added to the waste stream every year, which causes an environmental issue, since PET is highly resistant to atmospheric and biological agents. Currently, the handling methods of PET and other polymer wastes involve burying, burning, and recycling. But, as regards environmental protection, these methods have many shortcomings and cannot address poly (ethylene terephthalate) PET waste pollution from the source. Although the biodegradation ratio of PET was still weak, we demonstrated with SEM micrographs and IR analysis that Bacillus subtiliscould act on the PET.

Paper No: 
463