The world churn out 311 million tonnes ( 343 million tons ) of charge card every yr . By 2050 , plastic waste matter in the the oceans is require tooutweigh fish . About a sixth of that trash is made of a highly long-wearing charge plate call polyethylene terephthalate ( PET ) .
But while this is surely not safe for the major planet and its creature , nature finds a way : Researchers have launch a bacteria that has develop a surprising appetite for this slippery polymer .
The bacteria , namedIdeonella sakaiensis201 - F6 , has the power to offend down a sparse film of PET within just six workweek at a temperature of 86ºF ( 30ºC ) . Using two unlike enzymes , the bacterium breaks down the PET into terephthalic pane and ethylene glycol , two chemicals that are harmless to the surround .
The inquiry team from Kyoto Institute of Technology and Keio University discovered the bacterium after collecting 250 samples of PET debris from deposit , soil and wastewater from a plastic bottle recycling land site . The finding are published in the journalScience .
Interestingly , the investigator conceive that the bacteria ’s enzyme might be a fairly late evolutionary growing , as these types of plastic were only invented 70 years ago .
It ’s certainly exciting news . However , many scientist are unbelieving about how practical this bacterium could be in addressing the ball ’s plastic problem .
Tracy Mincer , a researcher at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution , said in astatement : " When I conceive it through , I do n’t really know where [ this discovery ] gets us . I do n’t see how microbes debasing plastic is any skillful than putting plastic bottle in a recycling bin so they can be melted down to make new ones . "
However , he remained optimistic that this find could pave the agency for the identification of more bacterium that have developed an ability to break down plastics and other pollutants .
Mincer concluded : “ This outgrowth could be quite coarse . Now that we be intimate what we are looking for , we may see these microbes in many area around the public . "
Main trope credit : recycleharmony / Flickr . ( CC BY - NC - ND 2.0 )
