Plastic-eating bacteria eat plastic six times faster than before – NRK Norway – Summary of news from different parts of the country

Researchers have managed to improve the properties of an enzyme so that it eats plastic six times faster than before.

He writes various media outlets, including The Guardian and CNN.

The researchers linked the enzyme, called PETase, to another enzyme. Together, the two enzymes dramatically accelerate the process, according to a study from the University of Portsmouth.

The “superzyme” can drastically shorten the degradation process of the type of PET plastic. PET is found in drinking bottles, textiles, and clothing. Instead, it takes several hundred years to break this down in nature, it can break down in a few days.

The hope is that the enzyme can contribute to the recycling process of millions of tons of plastic.

Recycling in one or two years

“In fact, we are quite surprised that it worked so well,” Professor John McGeehan of the University of Portsmouth told CNN.

According to McGeehan, they have received funding to conduct various experiments. The success of the project may mean that PET can soon be recycled instead of using fossil fuels to make new plastic.

“It will save us enormous amounts of energy,” says McGeehan.

The researchers also believe that if they link the bacteria with enzymes that break down cotton, it can be used to recycle clothing made from mixed fabrics and fabrics.

Today, millions of tons of clothes are thrown away or burned.

Eight million tons of plastic in the sea

Annually, around 8 million tons of plastic end up in the sea, according to figures from the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). This corresponds to 15 tons of plastic per minute.

We also know that humans and animals ingest and inhale microplastic particles.

Around a million plastic bottles are sold every minute in the world and only 14 percent are recycled.

The Portsmouth researchers hope that the enzyme can transform the plastic back into its original components, so that it can be turned back into new plastic bottles.

Plastic bottles that are recycled today can only be turned into opaque fibers for use in clothing and carpets. The super enzyme will make it possible to manufacture new plastic bottles.

The researchers’ first breakthrough came in 2018 after a plastic-eating bacteria was discovered in a Japanese garbage dump. The researchers published a designed version of the enzyme in 2018, which broke down the plastic in a few days.

But now the enzyme works six times faster than it did two years ago.