_version_ 1866911066189987840
author Colizzi, Francesco
Blázquez-Sánchez, Paula
Bussi, Giovanni
André, Isabelle
Ballabio, Federico
Bayer, Thomas
Bertocchini, Federica
Butenschön, Erik
Carosati, Emanuele
De Piero, Alessia
Di Pede-Mattatelli, Ania
Faggian, Leonardo
Favaro, Lorenzo
Fernandes, Pedro Alexandrino
Ferretti, Alfonso
Fojan, Peter
Gagsteiger, Andreas
García-Ruiz, Eva
Gardossi, Lucia
Giorgino, Toni
Graefe, Norbert
Gunkel, Jonas
Jiménez, Diego J.
Keller, Malene Billeskov
Künze, Georg
Lim, Sierin
Lippens, Guy
Maria-Solano, Miguel A.
Mitusińska, Karolina
Moliner, Vicent
Molla, Gianluca
Myburgh, Marthinus Wessel
Panel, Nicolas
Ramírez-Sarmiento, César A.
Rocher, Dominique
Strodel, Birgit
Ruiz, Belén Taroncher
Turak, Onur
Varrone, Cristiano
Vezzini, Daniele
Westh, Peter
Zimmermann, Wolfgang
author_facet Colizzi, Francesco
Blázquez-Sánchez, Paula
Bussi, Giovanni
André, Isabelle
Ballabio, Federico
Bayer, Thomas
Bertocchini, Federica
Butenschön, Erik
Carosati, Emanuele
De Piero, Alessia
Di Pede-Mattatelli, Ania
Faggian, Leonardo
Favaro, Lorenzo
Fernandes, Pedro Alexandrino
Ferretti, Alfonso
Fojan, Peter
Gagsteiger, Andreas
García-Ruiz, Eva
Gardossi, Lucia
Giorgino, Toni
Graefe, Norbert
Gunkel, Jonas
Jiménez, Diego J.
Keller, Malene Billeskov
Künze, Georg
Lim, Sierin
Lippens, Guy
Maria-Solano, Miguel A.
Mitusińska, Karolina
Moliner, Vicent
Molla, Gianluca
Myburgh, Marthinus Wessel
Panel, Nicolas
Ramírez-Sarmiento, César A.
Rocher, Dominique
Strodel, Birgit
Ruiz, Belén Taroncher
Turak, Onur
Varrone, Cristiano
Vezzini, Daniele
Westh, Peter
Zimmermann, Wolfgang
contents Plastics are essential to modern life, yet poor disposal practices contribute to low recycling rates and environmental accumulation-biological degradation and by-product reuse offer a path to mitigate this global threat. This report highlights key insights, future challenges, and research priorities identified during the CECAM workshop "Computations Meet Experiments to Advance the Enzymatic Depolymerization of Plastics One Atom at a Time", held in Trieste from May 6-8, 2025. The workshop brought together an interdisciplinary community of scientists focused on advancing the sustainable use of plastics through enzyme-based degradation. A key point from the discussions is that many bottlenecks in enzymatic recycling arise not only from process engineering challenges, but also from a limited understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. We argue that constraints on economic viability and sustainability (e.g., harsh solvents, high temperatures, substrate crystallinity, pretreatments) can-and should-be addressed directly through enzyme design, provided these factors are understood at the molecular level, in synergy with process optimization. For this, it is essential to rely on the integration of experimental and computational approaches to uncover the molecular and mechanistic basis of enzymatic plastic degradation. We highlight how the small-format structure of the workshop, in line with the usual CECAM format, fostered a collaborative, friendly, and relaxed atmosphere. We hope this report encourages future initiatives and the formation of shared consortia to support an open, collaborative, and bio-based plastic recycling community.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2507_14413
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Computations Meet Experiments to Advance the Enzymatic Depolymerization of Plastics One Atom at a Time
Colizzi, Francesco
Blázquez-Sánchez, Paula
Bussi, Giovanni
André, Isabelle
Ballabio, Federico
Bayer, Thomas
Bertocchini, Federica
Butenschön, Erik
Carosati, Emanuele
De Piero, Alessia
Di Pede-Mattatelli, Ania
Faggian, Leonardo
Favaro, Lorenzo
Fernandes, Pedro Alexandrino
Ferretti, Alfonso
Fojan, Peter
Gagsteiger, Andreas
García-Ruiz, Eva
Gardossi, Lucia
Giorgino, Toni
Graefe, Norbert
Gunkel, Jonas
Jiménez, Diego J.
Keller, Malene Billeskov
Künze, Georg
Lim, Sierin
Lippens, Guy
Maria-Solano, Miguel A.
Mitusińska, Karolina
Moliner, Vicent
Molla, Gianluca
Myburgh, Marthinus Wessel
Panel, Nicolas
Ramírez-Sarmiento, César A.
Rocher, Dominique
Strodel, Birgit
Ruiz, Belén Taroncher
Turak, Onur
Varrone, Cristiano
Vezzini, Daniele
Westh, Peter
Zimmermann, Wolfgang
Biomolecules
Plastics are essential to modern life, yet poor disposal practices contribute to low recycling rates and environmental accumulation-biological degradation and by-product reuse offer a path to mitigate this global threat. This report highlights key insights, future challenges, and research priorities identified during the CECAM workshop "Computations Meet Experiments to Advance the Enzymatic Depolymerization of Plastics One Atom at a Time", held in Trieste from May 6-8, 2025. The workshop brought together an interdisciplinary community of scientists focused on advancing the sustainable use of plastics through enzyme-based degradation. A key point from the discussions is that many bottlenecks in enzymatic recycling arise not only from process engineering challenges, but also from a limited understanding of the underlying molecular mechanisms. We argue that constraints on economic viability and sustainability (e.g., harsh solvents, high temperatures, substrate crystallinity, pretreatments) can-and should-be addressed directly through enzyme design, provided these factors are understood at the molecular level, in synergy with process optimization. For this, it is essential to rely on the integration of experimental and computational approaches to uncover the molecular and mechanistic basis of enzymatic plastic degradation. We highlight how the small-format structure of the workshop, in line with the usual CECAM format, fostered a collaborative, friendly, and relaxed atmosphere. We hope this report encourages future initiatives and the formation of shared consortia to support an open, collaborative, and bio-based plastic recycling community.
title Computations Meet Experiments to Advance the Enzymatic Depolymerization of Plastics One Atom at a Time
topic Biomolecules
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.14413