ARE WE TOO FAR FROM RECYCLING? ABSTRACT Plastics are one of the backbones of environmental pollution. Factors like hydrophobic nature and crystalline nature and size of the polymer resist biodegradation . Chemicals used to degrade nonbiodegradable plastics cause pollution in terrestrial as well as marine ecosystems. Biodegradable plastics take a shorter time to be degraded. However, these plastics also cause environmental damages and take some time to get completely degraded by biotic and abiotic factors. Researchers find that numerous microbial enzymes are capable of degrading fragments of biodegradable polymers through bio-catalysis. INVOLVEMENT OF BIODEGRADING ENZYMES OF THE MICROORGANISMS Polymers are nonbiodegradable due to their nonhydrolyzable groups attached. MnP from white-rot fungi Phanerochaete chrysosporeum ME-446 and the isolate IZU-154 are the main enzymes of biodegradation of PE. Alkane hydroxylases act as biocatalytic degradation of hydrocarbons by the terminal or