Bacteria Will Save the Planet: A Scientific Approach to the Problem of Plastic Waste
Learn how bacteria can help solve the problem of plastic waste on the planet. A scientific approach to ecology and technologies that use microorganisms to cleanse the environment.
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- Mass plastic pollution is causing an ecological crisis, with only 10% of waste being recycled.
- Scientists have discovered bacteria that can break down plastic, but their effectiveness in tackling the issue is limited.
- Enzymes derived from bacteria could be key to faster plastic waste disposal.
- Some countries are already using innovative bins for on-site recycling of PET bottles.
- Nevertheless, the search for new solutions continues - what awaits us in the future?
You don't need to be a scientist to notice the massive pollution of our cities with plastic. Plastic bags, PET bottles, and packaging have long made up a huge portion of all waste produced by people, organizations, and industries. They fill street trash bins, city landfills, and even the streets themselves. Moreover, this phenomenon has long become a problem of international scale – a plastic accumulation the size of an average European country has been discovered in the waters of the Pacific Ocean.
The production of polymers is economical, and the products themselves are versatile and practical in application. Therefore, humanity cannot completely abandon them. The waste issue today is being addressed through sorting and recycling of garbage. However, this solution cannot be called the only correct and effective one.
Only about 10% of plastic reaches waste recycling facilities from the total amount of such waste. The recycling process itself does not lead to the complete elimination of this type of garbage. Plastic bottles are turned into bags, bags into fiber bases for sewing clothes, which are then converted into materials for road surfaces. And this material cannot be recycled again.
In many countries, plastic waste is simply incinerated. However, during the combustion process, a huge amount of carbon and toxic substances are released into the atmosphere. This ultimately creates a precondition for a climate and ecological crisis.
But a solution to the problem does exist. In 2001, Japanese scientists discovered a slimy film on one of the urban dumps, which, when examined under a microscope, turned out to be a colony of bacteria. These bacteria consumed pieces of PET – the material that serves as the basis for plastic bottle production. This type of microbe was named Ideonella Sakaiensis in honor of the city of Sakai, where it was found. And in 2023, scientists from South Korea discovered another variety of "useful" bacteria – Bacillus Thuringiensis, which absorb plastic bags.
All these microbes have learned to decompose plastic to obtain the carbon they need. However, the rate of waste disposal using bacteria is quite slow – in laboratory conditions, it took microorganisms 7 weeks to completely decompose a 20-gram piece of polymer. Therefore, these bacteria certainly cannot cope with the problem of global pollution on their own.
But enzymes used by these bacteria could help with effective waste disposal. Scientists have already isolated these enzymes and subjected them to various mutations in search of the most active and powerful variant. But science does not stop there – the search for alternative microbes and enzymes continues.
Already today in some highly developed countries, you can find amazing trash bins on city streets that are intended exclusively for specific types of plastic waste. These bins represent ready-to-use equipment that recycles PET bottles on the spot. And the active component of this process is precisely the enzymes mentioned above.
Are you concerned about the issue of global plastic pollution? Do you sort your waste? And what do you think about the scientific approach to this problem?