Biodegradability of polymers and mechanisms of biodegradation

This contribution will provide an overview on the biodegradability of technical relevant polymers and will outline factors affecting their biodegradability or persistency. It will summarize, which of these polymers are biodegradable and which not. For those polymers, which are biodegradable, the catalytic mechanisms for the cleavage and/or the modification of the polymer backbone by enzymes synthesized by microorganisms and the localization of the key enzymes will be described.