Scientists discover microbes that can digest plastics at cool temperatures
, detailing how cold-adapted bacteria and fungus from polar regions and the Swiss Alps digested most of the plastics they tested — while only needing low to average temperatures. That last part is critical because plastic-eating microorganisms tend to need impractically high temperatures to work their magic.
Unfortunately, none of the microorganisms tested succeeded at breaking down non-biodegradable polyethylene , one of the most challenging plastics commonly found in consumer products and packaging. But 56 percent of the strains tested decomposed biodegradable polyester-polyurethane at 15 degrees Celsius . Others digested commercially available biodegradable mixtures of polybutylene adipate terephthalate and polylactic acid .
Plastics are too recent an invention for the microorganisms to have evolved specifically to break them down. But the researchers highlight how natural selection equipping them to break down cutin, a protective layer in plants that shares much in common with plastics, played a part. “Microbes have been shown to produce a wide variety of polymer-degrading enzymes involved in the break-down of plant cell walls.
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