SCIENTISTS DISCOVER MUTANT BACTERIA THAT CAN EAT PLASTIC.
Could create process to reclaim petroleum
An accidental finding led to the creation of a mutant bacteria that breaks down plastic, the Guardian reports.
Researchers from Britain and the U.S. stumbled on the discovery while working on a bug found outside a recycling plant in Japan that had naturally evolved to eat plastic.
The international team said it was originally tinkering with the bacteria to learn more about how it developed, but happened to make it more efficient in breaking down PET (polyethylene terephthalate), the kind of plastic used in plastic drink bottles.
According to the report, the bacteria creates enzymes when it comes into contact with the plastic that decompose the material. The enzymes can get through plastic in just days compared to the centuries it takes for the resistant PET to breakdown in landfills or oceans.
The researchers of the study said the discovery could help combat the world’s plastic problem. “What we are hoping to do is use this enzyme to turn this plastic back into its original components, so we can literally recycle it back to plastic,” said Dr. John McGeehan, who co-led the research. “It means we won’t need to dig up any more oil and, fundamentally, it should reduce the amount of plastic in the environment.”
In 2015, another study found between 4.8 and 12.7 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean each year, but in an interview with Reuters, McGeehan said he and his team are hopeful their research will lead to a largescale recycling process.
“It’s well within the possibility that in the coming years we will see an industrially viable process to turn PET, and potentially other (plastics), back into their original building blocks so that they can be sustainably recycled,” said McGeehan.