Pseudomonas is a bacterium, which could break down the bonds of thermosetting resin such as polyurethane

Among the various study activities, on alternative routes in waste management, microbiology is striving to find and test bacteria to break down those chemical bonds defined as irreversible, such as those of polyurethane.

The thermosetting resins, of which polyurethane is part, is a very rigid material made up of cross-linked polymers in which the motion of the polymer chains is severely limited by the high number of existing cross-links.

During heating they undergo an irreversible chemical modification.

Resins of this type, under the action of heat in the initial phase, soften (become plastic) and subsequently solidify. Unlike thermoplastic resins, they do not have the possibility of undergoing numerous forming processes during their use.

Thermosetting resins are materials in which the motion of the polymer chains is strongly constrained by a large number of existing crosslinking.

In fact, during the production process, they undergo irreversible chemical changes associated with the creation of transverse covalent bonds between the chains of the starting pre-polymers.

The density of the interconnections and the nature depend on the polymerization conditions and the nature of the precursors: generally, they are liquid systems, or easily liquefiable when hot, made up of low molecular weight organic compounds, often multifunctional, chemically reactive, sometimes in the presence of initiators or catalysts.

Polyurethane is a compound widely used as a thermal insulator, in the construction sector, the car industry, in household appliances, in cold storage, in the naval and railway sector, in furniture, in the footwear sector and in many other industrial sectors.

Every year, in Europe alone, about 3.5 million tons of polyurethane are produced which, at the end of the life cycle, does not find a correct destination in the recycling sector and normally end up in landfills.

The difficulty that this typology of plastic waste encounters in the reconversion process today, until the chemical recycling has taken hold, have pushed biological research to trace new paths.

A European research group called P4SB is studying materials from synthetic biology that are able, through bacterial catalysts, to create bio enzymes that can depolymerize polyurethane, but also PET.

The study identified a bacterium, called Psneudomonas, which, properly engineered, is able to metabolize the components of the polyurethane, which will then be made, within the bacterial mass, in the form of bioplastic.

This bacterium has the ability to survive in extreme conditions and is very resistant to toxic substances, in fact it is an enemy par excellence in the medical field as it easily resists antibiotics.

It is part of the family of gram-negative bacteria that normally affects people with low immune barriers or problems with the skin and mucous membranes.

The bacterium in humans triggers diseases associated with infections, such as respiratory problems, pneumonia, endocarditis, meningitis, eye, joint, gastrointestinal, dermatological and other forms of body reaction.

This shows that it is a bacterium to be taken seriously and its use in the microbiological field, applied to the recycling of plastics such as polyurethane, makes it clear the degree of colonization and decomposition that it could put in the field if treated with due care.