Is it possible to save the environment with the novel plastic fungus?

Samantha Jenkins discovered a plastic fungus.

Everyone knows that plastic waste does not decompose easily and does not mix with the ground, it takes a long time. And that is exactly why plastic waste has become such a big threat to the environment.

“But if a type of fungus is applied – which can literally” “eat” “this plastic – then perhaps it will be as easy as water for plastic waste to get into nature.”

There is no need to explain how big an event this will be for the protection of the earth’s environment.

A scientist discovered this by accident.

While working on another topic, this researcher named Samantha Jenkins accidentally discovered a fungus – which is plastic – eating.

The BBC’s business and technology reporter Emma Woolcott reports.

Plastic waste is everywhere.

Plastic is one of the major causes of environmental pollution. Dhaka, Mumbai, Rio de Janeiro – look at the piles of garbage in any big city, you will see one thing, plastic – thousands, millions of plastic.

Plastic enters food, Bangladesh in danger

Plastic pollutes Indian food

Is plastic pollution caused by recycling?At least 27,000 tons of plastic were used in Bangladesh in 2014. The usage is increasing year by year.

Plastic has now spread to the deep bottom of the oceans around the world, entering the stomachs of animals like whales, into human food – even into the placenta of human embryos.

It takes about 1,000 years for a single plastic bag to sink into the ground.

You can read more:

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Recycled Plastic is a Threat to Japan

Who is most responsible for plastic pollution?

Plastic is the main cause of pollution.

That’s why how to easily recycle plastic waste is a big challenge for scientists.

Plastic – especially single-use plastic products – is a huge problem around the world.

According to Greenpeace, 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic was thrown around the world in 2015, of which only 9% was recycled. 

Plastic particles have been found in the snow of the North Pole. How did the plastic get there?

The rest of the plastic is either burned or thrown away.

Many developed countries, including the United Kingdom, are sending large amounts of plastic waste to some Asian countries for recycling.

The situation is now improving, with more than 40% of plastic packaging in the EU being recycled, and the target is 2025.

Not all plastics can be recycled.

The problem is that plastic, like other waste, does not decompose and mix with the soil, it survives for hundreds of years.

Some plastics can be recycled, but some other plastics are very difficult to recycle.

There is a type of plastic called PET (polyethylene terephthalate) – which is used to make a variety of beverage bottles. They are not easily destroyed.

Every day, thousands of tons of plastic waste are produced in the world.

It is difficult to renew them in the traditional way. Is it possible to deal with it in a biological way?

Samantha Jenkins decided to test whether the PET could be destroyed by the fungus.

Fungus’ eating ‘plastic

Ms Jenkins is now testing her fungus on PET and polyurethane.

“You are giving plastic, the fungus is eating that plastic. After that, the fungus is giving birth to more fungi – and from that you can make various bio-materials or organic matter. “

Electron microscope shows fungus eating plastic

“It can be used to make food, feedstock for animals, even antibiotics. “

hungry fangs

Samantha Jenkins is the chief biotech engineer at a biomanufacturing firm called BioHome.

He was experimenting with some fungi for a research project of his company.

One of these fungi did such a thing that the course of his research turned in the other direction.

A modified form of E. coli bacteria can turn plastic into food flavoring.

“Suppose there is a jar full of grain – and a bunch of fungus grows on it. “

“It wasn’t exciting at all. But as soon as I opened it, something wonderful happened. “

Jenkins found that the fungi in the plastic sponge that had been used to make the jar airtight had decomposed, and digested it like any other food.

The goal of Jenkins’ project was to test how bio-based materials could be used to make insulation panels.

But this plastic-eating “hungry fungus” took their research in a different direction.

BioHome is now working on how to create a more potent strain of this fungus – which may one day be able to rid the environment of plastic waste.

Plastic and Bacteria

A number of other scientists have worked on this.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh recently used a laboratory-made version of a type of bacteria called e-coli to break down terephthalic acid to make vanillin – which is used as a food fragrance.

Terephthalic acid is a molecule derived from PET.

Carbios uses enzymes to break down ET.

School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh. Joanna Sadler said: “Our trials are still at an early stage, and more work needs to be done to make this process more efficient and economically viable. “

“But it’s a very exciting start, and it has the potential to be commercially viable in the future once this process is developed. “

On the other hand, a team at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research in Leipzig, Germany, has made significant progress in another study.

The team is using a type of bacteria called Pseudomonas sp TDA-one to break down polyurethane.

The bacteria was found in a local garbage dump.

The bacteria eat some of the plastic, and the rest of it dissolves in the air as carbon dioxide.

Pseudomonas breaks down polyurethane using its enzymes. There are other microorganisms that eat plastic.

The team in Leipzig analyzed the bacteria’s genome to determine the genetic makeup of these enzymes.

Now there are some questions about whether these methods will be commercially viable.

Carbios says they can turn any plastic waste into PET products.

Ramani Narayan, a professor at Michigan State University, said that these are very interesting studies, but these technologies have to compete with currently proven commercial methods.

What are the current business models?

A French company, Carbios, has made the most progress in this regard.

They have developed a version of an enzyme found in compost – through genetic engineering – that can break down PET.

Carbios has recently partnered with two major companies such as L’Oréal and Nestlé. They then announced that they had created the world’s first “food-grade” PET plastic bottle from recycled plastic.

PET waste is being sorted in a recycling factory in Bangladesh.

Martin Stefan, deputy chief executive of Carbios, says that with their technology, any PET waste can now be recycled into any PET product.

However, plastic bottles produced in this way are twice as expensive as those made from petrochemicals.

But despite this, Mr. Stefan says that this technology will also make it possible to make low-cost bottles at one time.

Professor at the Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Leipzig University. Wolfgang Zimmermann says that this technology of Carbios has potential.

According to him, it is possible to recycle PET bottles using enzymes, but PET bottles have the ability to inhibit enzymes. “Therefore, this bottle should be pre-treated and thawed before the application of the enzyme. This will result in additional fuel consumption. It doesn’t make much sense to me economically and in terms of reducing the carbon footprint. “

মি. Stefan also admits that the scope of recycling using enzymes is still very limited.

“We have so far developed only two polyester recycling technologies – which produce 75 million tonnes a year. But in comparison, the total plastic production in the world is 35 crore tons. So we still have a lot of work to do. “