The premium version has an automatic tax estimation feature which shows a breakdown of estimates for each year in the sim, but it is US-specific at the moment.
Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is the most abundant polyester plastic, with almost 70 million tons manufactured annually worldwide for use in textiles and packaging3. The main recycling process for PET, via thermomechanical means, results in a loss of mechanical properties4. Consequently, de novo synthesis is preferred and PET waste continues to accumulate. With a high ratio of aromatic terephthalate units—which reduce chain mobility—PET is a polyester that is extremely difficult to hydrolyse5. Several PET hydrolase enzymes have been reported, but show limited productivity6,7. Here we describe an improved PET hydrolase that ultimately achieves, over 10 hours, a minimum of 90 per cent PET depolymerization into monomers, with a productivity of 16.7 grams of terephthalate per litre per hour (200 grams per kilogram of PET suspension, with an enzyme concentration of 3 milligrams per gram of PET).
Basically, plastics are polymers (many units) of repeating building block monomers (single unit). The single unit is terephthalate, a " dimethyl-ester that is a major starting material for polyester fibers and coatings." So you're breaking down the already formed polymers into the building blocks that can be redeployed.
While CRISPR is an incredible technology with plenty of current exposure, the Nobel Prize in Medicine tends to move slowly; often discoveries that first debuted 20 years ago are only finally recognized. CRISPR will have its day in the Nobel sun, but unlikely in this decade.
