Non-biodegradable biopolymers from renewable resources: perspectives and impacts

In recent years the biotechnological production of bulk biopolymers has focused on the synthesis of biodegradable polymers to replace their non-biodegradable counterparts derived from fossil resources. Examples include polyhydroxyalkanoates and polylactic acid, which act as substitutes for polyolefins. By contrast, the biotechnological production of non-biodegradable polymers from renewable resources has so far been scarcely considered, probably because this idea contradicts the paradigm that all natural compounds are biodegradable. Polythioesters, which were recently described as new biopolymers, do not follow this paradigm because although they are produced by bacteria, they are persistent to microbial degradation. Mankind has a need for both non-biodegradable and biodegradable polymers and methods to produce them from renewable resources will be of great value.