WHERE OUR PLASTICS GO
whizz around plastic-saturated areas of the ocean, swallowing rubbish with their circular ‘jaws’ while keeping fish CYC[ WUKPI C UQPKE VTCPUOKVVGT
6JGUG CTG KPIGPKQWU UQNWVKQPU CPF maybe a bona fide success story will help to ease the tension between those developing the projects, and the people who want to prevent the plastic getting VJGTG KP VJG HKTUV RNCEG # HVGT CNN CU Savoca points out: why not do both?
GOBBLE IT UP WITH MICROBES
Bacteria are potentially the most versatile creatures in existence, capable of making a home in pretty much any GPXKTQPOGPV QP 'CTVJ +V KU RGTJCRU unsurprising, then, that in recent years scientists have found evidence that some have evolved the capacity to break FQYP RNCUVKEU .CUV [GCT HQT GZCORNG C Japanese team identified a bacterium ECRCDNG QH DKQFGITCFKPI 2'6 s C RNCUVKE found in everything from polyester clothing to water bottles – prompting speculation that bacteria could be employed to stem the tide of plastic RQNNWVKQP D[ OWPEJKPI VJTQWIJ KV
&T .KPFC # OCTCN <GVVNGT C OKETQDKCN ecologist working on the ‘plastisphere’ – the community of creatures living on ocean plastics – says it’s wrong to think QH RNCUVKE CU C UVGTKNG GPXKTQPOGPV p9JGP [QW FQ VJG GZRGTKOGPVU [QW HKPF there are some microbes that are incredibly well suited to colonising RNCUVKEU q UJG GZRNCKPU *GT YQTM JCU shown distinct genetic differences between bacteria inhabiting plastic and those in the surrounding water, so the concept of bacteria adapting to NKHG KP VJG 2NCUVKE #IG KU PQV VJCV HCT HGVEJGF p$WV KVoU QPG VJKPI VQ colonise, it’s another to actually break down and digest plastic,” UJG CFFU
While plastics do degrade naturally through UV radiation and physical processes, and bacteria may be playing some role in this, it doesn’t mean all the plastic is simply vanishing into their tiny DQFKGU PGXGT VQ DG UGGP CICKP + P fact, some microbes might even be breaking down the plastic into ever smaller particles, which are not only harder to detect and clean up, but could be damaging marine GEQU[UVGOU 2NCUVKE OWPEJKPI microbes are an intriguing area of research, and certainly worth GZRNQTKPI HWTVJGT $WV YKVJ VJG plastic piling up fast, we might not be able to rely on bacteria to do our FKTV[ YQTM HQT WU
TURN IT INTO SOMETHING ELSE
Ultimately, plastics are not our GPGO[ 6JG[ CTG FWTCDNG
lightweight, inexpensive, and KPETGFKDN[ WUGHWN 6JG OCLQT KUUWG KU that around 40 per cent of the plastic we produce is going into single-use items, such as cotton buds, drinking straws, carrier bags and plastic forks, which have a long life following FKURQUCN
(QTVWPCVGN[ YGoTG DGIKPPKPI VQ see more projects that repurpose FKUECTFGF RNCUVKEU 0QV QPN[ ECP plastics be recycled to make the usual suspects, such as packaging, but they can be transformed into more URGEKCNKUV RTQFWEVU UWEJ CU ENQVJGU Some companies, for example, melt down plastic bottles and turn them into fibres that can be woven into fabrics, a process that uses 50 per cent less energy than producing polyester, the plastic most widely used in clothing, from UETCVEJ
Plastics can also be used as fuel, with new technologies allowing us to efficiently convert them into diesel and ICUQNKPG $[ JGCVKPI RNCUVKE KP C controlled way, coupled with a catalyst, it is possible to produce fuel that doesn’t GXGP PGGF TGHKPKPI CPF KU TGCF[ VQ WUG #NN QH VJKU OGCPU NGUU RNCUVKE NGCMKPI QWV of the system and ending up in the QEGCPU 'XGPVWCNN[ YG EQWNF UGG C HWNN[ circular ‘plastic economy’, though this would require major changes at an industry level in order to make plastic GCUKGT VQ TGE[ENG CPF TGWUG