A scientific report* reviewed in Chemical and Engineering News demonstrated the technical feasibility of degradation of polyethylene terephthalate [PET] used in many food packaging applications including eggs.

According to the studies at the Toulouse Biotechnology Institute a genetically modified cutinase enzyme that breaks down plant material can depolymerize PET in approximately ten hours. Previously a cutinase enzyme showed potential to treat waste PET bottles in studies conducted at the Kyoto Institute of Technology during 2016. 

The cutinase developed by the Toulouse researchers functions at 160F, a temperature at which PET transforms from a rigid to a flexible state.  Crystalline PET used in bottles and egg packaging would have to be converted from a crystalline to the amorphous form before enzymatic degradation.

The technology is being evaluated in a pilot-scale plant, but it is projected that a commercial facility could be available by 2025 to process 90,000 tons of PET annually. It is estimated that the World manufactures 60 million metric tons of PET each year.

*Nature 2020, DOI:10.1038/s41586-020-2149-4