Scientists discover plastic-eating bacterium
Asoil bacterium that is able to break down polyurethane has been found on a plastic-waste site. Commonly used in nappies, foam insulation and footwear, millions of tonnes of this hardto-recycle plastic end up in landfill every year, but in laboratory tests scientists discovered that it could be used as food by the microorganism.
“The bacteria use about 50 per cent of the material to produce their own biomass, ie new bacteria,” says Hermann Heipieper, a member of the research team at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ in Leipzig, Germany. “And they use the remaining 50 per cent for their energy supply, which ultimately results in nothing else left, other than carbon dioxide.”
Finding the new strain of Pseudomonas bacteria is an important step in determining which plastics can be attacked by microorganisms and are therefore biodegradable. However, Heipieper hastens to add that it will take time to develop use of this bacteria on a large scale in landfills. The next step is to identify the genes within the bacterium that code for the enzymes responsible for breaking down the polyurethane.
A separate group of scientists has already created a mutant bacterial enzyme that breaks down PET plastic bottles within hours, with the research published in the journal Nature. “For a sustainable future of plastics, we need to introduce more biodegradable plastics and to organise a better recycling system,” says Heipieper. Catherine Smalley
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