University of Edinburgh researchers have engineered Escherichia coli bacteria to convert polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic waste into the common painkiller paracetamol with a 92% conversion efficiency. This innovative chemo-biological hybrid process leverages a synthetic Lossen rearrangement reaction in the presence of living cells, followed by enzymatic synthesis steps. Funded partly by AstraZeneca, this technique offers a sustainable route to produce pharmaceuticals while addressing plastic pollution.