The enzymatic degradation and repolymerization were carried out with the objectives of developing the chemical recycling of aliphatic polyester-type plastics, such as the poly(butylene adipate) (PBA), poly(butylene succinate), and poly(butylene adipate-co-succinate) copolymers which are typical biodegradable plastics. They were degraded by lipase in an organic solvent solution containing a small amount of water to produce cyclic oligomers mainly consisting of the cyclic diester. The produced cyclic oligomer was readily repolymerized by lipase to produce a polyester having an equal or higher molecular weight compared to the parent polymer. As an example, PBA having an Mw of 22,000 was almost quantitatively transformed by lipase CA (Novozym 435) in water-containing toluene at 50 degrees C into the corresponding cyclic oligomers mainly consisting of dimers. Thus, the obtained oligomers were readily polymerized by lipase CA to produce the PBA with an Mw of 52,000.

Enzymatic transformations into cyclic oligomers were carried out with the objective of developing chemical recycling of poly(lactic acid)s, such as poly(D,L-lactic acid) (PDLLA), poly(D-lactic acid) (PDLA) and poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA), which are typical biodegradable polymers. They were degraded by lipase in an organic solvent to produce the corresponding cyclic oligomer with a molecular weight of several hundreds. PDLLA (with a Mw of 84,000) was quantitatively transformed into cyclic oligomers by lipase RM (Lipozyme RM IM) in chloroform/hexane at 60 degrees C. PLLA (with a Mw of 120,000) was transformed into cyclic oligomer by lipase CA (Novozym 435) at a higher temperature of 100 degrees C in o-xylene. The oligomer structure was identified by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF (matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight) mass spectrometry.