Plastics production and recycling chains must be refitted to a circular economy. Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is especially suitable for recycling because of its hydrolysable ester bonds and high environmental impact due to employment in single-use packaging, so that recycling processes utilizing enzymes are a promising biotechnological route to monomer recovery. However, enzymatic PET depolymerization still faces challenges to become a competitive route at an industrial level. In this review, PET characteristics as a substrate for enzymes are discussed, as well as the analytical methods used to evaluate the reaction progress. A comprehensive view on the biocatalysts used is discussed. Subsequently, different strategies pursued to improve enzymatic PET depolymerization are presented, including enzyme modification through mutagenesis, utilization of multiple enzymes, improvement of the interaction between enzymes and the hydrophobic surface of PET, and various reaction conditions (e.g., particle size, reaction medium, agitation, and additives). All scientific developments regarding these different aspects of PET depolymerization are crucial to offer a scalable and competitive technology. However, they must be integrated into global processes from upstream to downstream, discussed here at the final sections, which must be evaluated for their economic feasibility and life cycle assessment to check if PET recycling chains can be broadly incorporated into the future circular economy.

塑料生产和回收链必须适应循环经济。聚对苯二甲酸乙二醇酯 (PET) 特别适合回收利用，因为它具有可水解的酯键，而且由于采用一次性包装而对环境造成很大影响，因此利用酶的回收过程是一种很有前途的单体回收生物技术途径。然而，酶促PET解聚仍面临着成为工业水平竞争路线的挑战。在这篇综述中，讨论了作为酶底物的 PET 特性，以及用于评估反应进程的分析方法。讨论了所用生物催化剂的综合观点。随后，提出了改善酶促 PET 解聚的不同策略，包括通过诱变进行酶修饰，多种酶的利用，改进酶与PET疏水表面的相互作用，以及各种反应条件（如粒径、反应介质、搅拌和添加剂）。关于 PET 解聚的这些不同方面的所有科学发展对于提供可扩展且具有竞争力的技术至关重要。然而，它们必须被整合到从上游到下游的全球流程中，在最后部分进行讨论，必须对其经济可行性和生命周期评估进行评估，以检查 PET 回收链是否可以广泛地纳入未来的循环经济。和添加剂）。关于 PET 解聚的这些不同方面的所有科学发展对于提供可扩展且具有竞争力的技术至关重要。然而，它们必须被整合到从上游到下游的全球流程中，在最后部分讨论，必须对其经济可行性和生命周期评估进行评估，以检查 PET 回收链是否可以广泛地纳入未来的循环经济。和添加剂）。关于 PET 解聚的这些不同方面的所有科学发展对于提供可扩展且具有竞争力的技术至关重要。然而，它们必须被整合到从上游到下游的全球流程中，在最后部分讨论，必须对其经济可行性和生命周期评估进行评估，以检查 PET 回收链是否可以广泛地纳入未来的循环经济。