Lena X. Williams, Nikolas Gaugler, Peifeng Wang, Clay C C. Wang, Berl R. Oakley, Travis J. Williams
Waste valorization by biological funneling is a new strategy that has emerged for the upgrading of plastic waste. The concept involves chemically converting plastics to microbial metabolic substrates, then upgrading these in a subsequent fermentation step. To date, several polymer materials have been exhibited as substrates, each undergoing conversion to carboxylic acid products. These various acids have been upcycled by both bacterial and fungal hosts, the former producing polyhydroxyalkanoic acid materials and the latter producing a host of medicinal entities, fine chemicals, and biologics. In this short review, we will summarize the emerging field of plastics valorization by biological funneling and make a case for the utility of fungal platforms as a funneling back end, emphasizing the upcycling of synthetic polymers to high value fungal metabolites