Spanish project targets enzymatic recycling of ocean plastic waste

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): A Spanish research consortium is investigating enzymatic recycling technologies for marine plastic waste that is too degraded for conventional mechanical recycling.

The OCEANZYME project brings together plastics technology centre Aimplas, the Institute of Marine Sciences and the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia, both part of Spain’s National Research Council, CSIC. The initiative is coordinated by environmental organisation Vertidos Cero Association.

Running from 2026 to 2028, the project will collect marine litter through fishing campaigns in Spain’s North Atlantic and Levantine-Balearic marine regions. According to Aimplas, average litter densities in the two regions range from 40 to 300 items per square kilometre.

Marine plastics recovered from deep-sea environments often have degraded physical and mechanical properties, making them hard to recycle mechanically and limiting their return to the value chain.

Researchers will characterise the collected waste and analyse the microbial communities attached to it by studying their genetic material. They will also isolate bacteria capable of degrading different plastic compounds and identify enzymes with potential applications in plastics recycling.

Selected enzymes will be modelled in three dimensions alongside plastic substrates before being produced and tested. The consortium will then assess whether the products generated through enzymatic recycling could be used in sectors including fisheries and aquaculture.

The project began in January 2026 and is being developed with the Biodiversity Foundation of Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge through the Pleamar Programme. It is co-funded by the EU’s European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund.