Scientists at the University of Edinburgh engineered bacteria to convert recycled plastic waste into pharmaceutical compounds, including the widely used analgesic paracetamol. By exploiting a biological version of the Lossen rearrangement within E. coli under biocompatible conditions, the team demonstrates a low-carbon-footprint process transforming PET plastic recycling products into medicinal molecules. This innovation presents a sustainable biotechnology approach merging plastic waste reduction with drug manufacturing.