Bioconversion of waste paper materials to sugars: an application illustrating the environmental benefit of enzymes

Recycling of waste materials into useful products is very topical not only to protect natural resources, but also to limit environmental pollution. The enzymatically catalyzed bioconversion of organic based waste such as used paper materials to soluble sugars like glucose can be performed in an environmental-friendly way. A basic experiment is proposed to show how different paper materials exhibit varying susceptibilities towards cellulase catalyzed saccharification, and that this approach can be applied by biochemistry or biotechnology students in the bioconversion of different cellulose related waste materials.