Plastic Eating Bacteria
First published - March 2020
There is roughly 311 million tonnes of plastic produced each year. Only a small percentage of that is recycled. The rest ends up as waste. The impact this has been having on the environment is huge. The unsightly bits that can be seen easily are just the tip of the iceberg. The problem of how to deal with this has been puzzling scientists for a long time.
Life is amazing. Whilst scientists strove to find a way it appears that the World is coming up with its own solution. A few years ago plastic eating bacteria were discovered. Most recently Japanese scientists have discovered a bacterium that can fully degrade one of the more widely used plastics. The research is looking at using this bacterium to tackle the issue of plastic waste. This is good news but even better news that life itself seems to be a step ahead of the scientists in producing a solution.
