Scientists Find Bacteria That Eats Plastic Waste And It Will Help Save Our Planet

Plastic has to be the worst thing for this planet. Its non-biodegradable nature has truly affected our planet. However, now scientists in Europe have come across a strain of bacteria that loves eating plastic.

Reuters

This is according to research published in Frontiers in Microbiology. The new bacterium is capable of breaking down chemical bonds in polyurethane -- a particular kind of plastic that is seen in diapers, shoes, refrigerator parts -- basically flexible and light plastics. They found the bacteria in a dumping ground.

Polyurethane products alone accounted for millions of tons globally. Polyurethane is also the most notorious from the lot as not only it takes longer to degrade (as is the case with most plastics), but it also difficult to recycle, as it doesn¡¯t really melt. Moreover, it is known to leak toxins into the environment, harming the environment and by extension, us.

The newly discovered bacteria is a kind of Pseudomonas (a group of strong bacteria), dubbed TDA1. Pseudomonas can survive extreme conditions such as acidic environments, high temperatures and are considered as extremophile organisms.

Reuters

TDA1 was spotted degrading the chemical building blocks of polyurethane, and actually metabolising them for food. The more they eat the more they grow and eat even more -- creating a never-ending cycle.

Hermann Heipieper, a co-author of the paper and a senior scientist at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ states, ¡°The bacteria can use these compounds as a sole source of carbon, nitrogen and energy. This finding represents an important step in being able to reuse hard-to-recycle [polyurethane] products.¡±

While the research is still in its nascent stages, further research could bring us closer to a world where such bacteria could prevent plastic from getting accumulated in dumping grounds entirely.