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Nature has begun to fight back against the vast piles of filth dumped into its
soils, rivers and oceans by evolving a plastic-eating bacteria – the first known
to science.
“This is the first rigorous study – it appears to be very carefully done – that I
have seen that shows plastic being hydrolyzed [broken down] by bacteria,”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/10/could-a-new-plastic-eating-bacteria-help-combat-this-pollution-scourge Page 1 of 5
Could a new plastic-eating bacteria help combat this pollution scourge? | Environment | The Guardian 28/03/2019, 8*25 AM
The molecules that form PET are bonded very strongly, said Prof Uwe
Bornscheuer in an accompanying comment piece in Science. “Until recently,
no organisms were known to be able to decompose it.”
“I think we are seeing how nature can surprise us and in the end the
resiliency of nature itself,” added Mincer.
The bacteria took longer to eat away highly crystallised PET, which is used in
plastic bottles. That means the enzymes and processes would need
refinement before they could be useful for industrial recycling or pollution
clean-up.
“It’s difficult to break down highly crystallised PET,” said Prof Kenji
Miyamoto from Keio University, one of the authors of the study. “Our
research results are just the initiation for the application. We have to work on
so many issues needed for various applications. It takes a long time,” he said.
A third of all plastics end up in the environment and 8m tonnes end up in the
ocean every year, creating vast accumulations of life-choking rubbish.
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Could a new plastic-eating bacteria help combat this pollution scourge? | Environment | The Guardian 28/03/2019, 8*25 AM
Advances in biodegradable plastics and recycling offer hope for the future,
said Bornscheuer, “but [this] does not help to get rid of the plastics already in
the environment”.
However the potential applications of the discovery remain unclear. The most
obvious use would be as a biological agent in nature, said Palombo. Bacteria
could be sprayed on the huge floating trash heaps building up in the oceans.
This method is most notably employed to combat oil spills.
This particular bacteria would not be useful for this process as it only
consumes PET, which is too dense to float on water. But Bornscheuer said the
discovery could open the door to the discovery or manufacture of biological
agents able to break down other plastics.
Palombo said the discovery suggested that other bacteria may have already
evolved to do this job and simply needed to be found.
But Mincer said breaking down ocean rubbish came with dangers of its own.
Plastics often contain additives that can be toxic when released. WEF
estimates that the 150m tonnes of plastic currently in the ocean contain
roughly 23m tonnes of additives.
“Plastic debris may have been less toxic in the whole unhydrolyzed form
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Could a new plastic-eating bacteria help combat this pollution scourge? | Environment | The Guardian 28/03/2019, 8*25 AM
Beyond dealing with the plastic already fouling up the environment, the
bacteria could potentially be used in industrial recycling processes.
But the plastics industry said the potential for a new biological process to
replace or augment the current mechanical recycling process was very small.
“PET is 100% recyclable,” said Mike Neal, the chairman of the Committee of
PET Manufacturers in Europe. “I expect that a biodegradation system would
require a similar engineering process to chemical depolymerisation and as
such is unlikely to be economically viable,” he said.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/mar/10/could-a-new-plastic-eating-bacteria-help-combat-this-pollution-scourge Page 4 of 5
Could a new plastic-eating bacteria help combat this pollution scourge? | Environment | The Guardian 28/03/2019, 8*25 AM
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