Scientists discover plastic-eating bacterium which could save our oceans
It’s not news that mankind is slowly ruining the natural world by rapidly turning our land and oceans into a giant pile of plastic waste.
Our trash is slowly but surely sabotaging the environment, and its ability to properly regenerate; increasingly more birds, fish and other ocean dependent animals are involuntarily consuming the tons of plastic we throw in their home. Literal continent-size patches of plastic waste are floating around the oceans threatening the life of ocean dependent flora and fauna.
The rise in plastic waste and its potential disastrous effects made NGOs, governments and other organizations to think of ways to reduce the negative impact of plastic waste and discover sustainable alternatives to the ways we make and use plastic. Despite strict legislation, educational campaigns and other considerable efforts the problem is yet to be resolved. However, some recent input may be the key to finally recycle plastic bottles and jars, making a huge step in the direction of decreasing — if not stopping — the plastic pollution.
Scientists from Kyoto University in Japan accidentally made a major breakthrough that could revolutionize the way we handle the plastic pollution. The scientists identified back in 2016 at a waste dump in Japan, after 5 years of research, a bacterium — Ideonella sakaiensis — that had naturally evolve to consume plastic — PET (polyethylene terephthalate) to be more precise — and use it as an energy source.
PET is a type of plastic widely used for packaging foods and beverages. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) stated that in 2012 the US produced a staggering 14 million tons of plastic for packaging and containers and only managed to recycle 31% of those PET bottles and jars. The rest of 69% mostly ends up in landfills where it could take up to 500 years to decompose. Scientists estimated that 165 million tons of plastic debris are already floating in our oceans endangering both the health and safety of marine life.
According to lab tests, the new bacteria can fully break down a pellicle of PET in 6 weeks at a constant temperature of 86 Fahrenheit degrees. Scientists observed and explained the process behind it: ‘Ideonella sakaiensis breaks down the plastic by using two enzymes to hydrolyse PET and a primary reaction intermediate, eventually yielding basic building blocks for growth.’ Prof John McGeehan, at the University of Portsmouth, UK, stated in The Guardian: “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”, also meaning that ‘we won’t need to dig up any more oil and, fundamentally, it should reduce the amount of plastic in the environment.”
The bacteria is yet to have large-scale applicable potential since the scientists have to further the process and stabilize the enzyme so it can withstand higher temperatures, above 158 degrees Fahrenheit, where PET is more likely to degrade 10–100 times faster. Upgrading the bacteria could be difficult if not impossible, and it could come with another price such as the additional greenhouse gas emissions produced by the process.
Some scientists also proposed to integrate the enzyme in the composition of PET making plastic bottles biodegradable but the idea was not accepted since the effects the bacteria can have on humans is still unknown.
Although recycling has its place, we are still dumping tons and tons of plastic waste into our oceans and thing won’t change unless we will find sustainable alternatives to producing and using plastic; the newly discovered bacteria can be the first step of a brighter, less plastic polluted world. But perhaps we should not only rely on scientific advancements such as Ideonella sakaiensis to clean our oceans and save our environment and rather be cautious with how we treat our home and manage our waste.