Recycling of plastic has been taken to a new level as a new bacterium has been discovered to feed on plastic. This new plastic eating bacteria called Ideonella sakaiensis is remarkable for its ability to completely break down the popular PET bottle. The PET bottle were first used commercially in 1947, but remained relatively expensive until the early 1960s when high-density polyethylene was introduced. They quickly became popular with both manufacturers and customers due to their lightweight nature, durability, resistance to water and relatively low production and transportation costs compared with glass bottles. However, the biggest advantage plastic bottles have over glass, is their superior resistance to water, breakeage, in both production and transportation. Except for wine and beer, the food industry has almost completely replaced glass with plastic bottles. From Research, it is thought that it takes 450 years for plastic bottle to break down. Our oceans and landfill are filled with them because it takes a longer time to biodegrade.
The discovery of this micro-organism was made after scientists sifted through 250 samples of PET taken from recycling facilities according to the study published yesterday in Journal Science. One of the things watched out for were signs of degradation among the samples. The study says that the bacterium uses a pair of enzymes (biological catalysts used by animals to break down food) to turn PET into a food source and took six weeks to completely degrade just a small film of low-grade PET. Despite its slow rate of decomposition of the plastics, it was noted by biotechnology professor Uwe Bornscheue in an article published in the Science that it still works. He went further to state that this should be improved by further studies on the strain.
This type of plastic has only existed in the natural world for around 70 years, notes Bornscheuer, but it’s possible that enzymes adapted to access it as a food source and “provide an advantage for survival.”
Credit – Journal Science
