Anaerobic biodegradation of PLA at mesophilic and thermophilic temperatures: methanation potential and associated microbial community
Abstract
Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most promising bio-based alternative to traditional petrochemical plastics across diverse applications. In this study, the biodegradation performance of PLA plastic under two potential end-of-life scenarios: mesophilic and thermophilic anaerobic digestion (AD) were investigated. The biotic and abiotic influence factors were evaluated through short-time exposure experiments. The potential bacteria and archaea involved in PLA anaerobic biodegradation were identified by high-throughput 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. The results showed that PLA had different biodegradation performance at mesophilic and thermophilic digestion (the biogas yield: 36.70 ± 0.2vs 398.6 ± 1.1 mL/g VS). The increased temperature at thermophilic conditions improved the biodegradability of PLA, but an attack by microorganisms was more crucial for biodegradation. The bacteria engaged in PLA hydrolysis and acidification were closely associated with proteolytic microbes. Mesophilic biodegradation of PLA involved Clostridia (14.94%), Anaerolineae (22.6%) and acetoclastic Methanothrix (53.0%). Thermophilic biodegradation of PLA was mainly accomplished by syntrophic microbes, Clostridia (38.2%), Synergistia (18.99%) and Thermotogae (17.82%), in tandem with hydrogenotrophic Methanothermobacter (20.5%). The results provide some insights for understanding mechanisms governing PLA biodegradation under AD conditions.
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Cites
Nie, R., Peng, W., Lü, F., Zhang, H., Lu, X., & He, P. (2024) · Journal of Hazardous Materials · doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.134882 · Cited by 47 · see citing works
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- Authors
- Mu, L., Ding, J., Wang, Y., Peng, H., Tao, J., Pulkkinen, E., Si, H., Zhang, L., Li, A., & Li, J.
- Affiliations
- Tianjin University of Commerce (CN)
- Tianjin University of Commerce
- Tianjin University (CN)
- Company of Metern, Helsinki, Finland
- Dalian University of Technology (CN)
- Tianjin Capital Environmental Protection Group Co., Ltd.
- Corresponding author
- Tao, Junyu
- Li, Jinhe
- Venue
- Environmental Technology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2025-02-11
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 2932-2944
- ISSN
- 0959-3330 (ISSN-L)
- 1479-487X
- OpenAlex
- W4407357208
- Cited by
- 7
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3
- FWCI
- 2.91
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National key Research and Development Program of China (2022YFE0125100)
- Natural Science Foundation of Tianjin City (22JCQNJC01410)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Building and Construction › Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › biodegradable polymer synthesis and properties
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Environmental Chemistry › Environmental Chemistry and Analysis
- Keywords
- polylactic acid, anaerobic biodegradation, anaerobic digestion, thermophilic digestion, mesophilic digestion, biogas yield, methanation, microbial communities, Clostridium, Methanosaeta, Methanothermobacter, Thermotogae, syntrophic bacteria, plastic biodegradation
- MeSH terms
- Anaerobiosis, Archaea, Bacteria, Biodegradation, Environmental, Methane, Polyesters, RNA, Ribosomal, 16S, Temperature, Bioreactors, Microbiota
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