14 Jun 2021 --- Scientists have developed a novel way to use plastic waste as a food industry resource by converting post-consumer PET into vanillin via a series of chemical reactions. The team from the University of Edinburgh, UK, lab-engineered E. coli to transform terephthalic acid – a molecule derived from PET – into the molecule known for giving vanilla its characteristic taste and smell. Scientists demonstrated the technique by converting a used plastic bottle into vanillin.
