Reducing the amount of plastic used is vital, as is the proper collection and treatment of waste, and full recycling could cut new plastic production. Millions of tonnes of plastic are dumped every year, and the pollution pervades the planet, from the summit of Mount Everest to the deepest oceans. An enzyme that breaks down PET has also been produced from bacteria in leaf compost, while another bug from a waste dump can eat polyurethane, a plastic that is widely used but rarely recycled. It found 30,000 different enzymes that might degrade 10 different types of plastic.Ī super-enzyme that quickly breaks down plastic drink bottles, usually made from PET plastic, was revealed in 2020, inspired by a bug found in a waste dump in Japan and accidentally tweaked to increase its potency. Previous discoveries of useful enzymes have been in microbes, with a 2021 study indicating that bacteria in oceans and soils across the globe are evolving to eat plastic. Other scientists are currently investigating beetles and butterfly larvae for their plastic-eating potential. As well as large recycling plants, the scientists said it might one day be possible to have kits in homes to recycle plastic bags into useful products. “We need to do a lot of research and think about how to develop this new strategy to deal with plastic waste,” said Dr Clemente Arias, also at the Spanish research centre. In terms of commercial application, it is early days, the researchers say. “After a while, I noticed lots of holes and we found it wasn’t only chewing, it was, so that was the beginning of the story.” “My beehives were plagued with wax worms, so I started cleaning them, putting the worms in a plastic bag,” said Dr Federica Bertocchini, at the Biological Research Centre in Madrid. That usually requires a lot of heating, but the enzymes work at normal temperatures, in water and at neutral pH. The enzymes can be easily synthesised and overcome a bottleneck in plastic degradation, the researchers said, which is the initial breaking of the polymer chains. The only recycling at scale today uses mechanical processes and creates lower-value products.Ĭhemical breakdown could create valuable chemicals or, with some further processing, new plastic, thereby avoiding the need for new virgin plastic made from oil. Polyethylene makes up 30% of all plastic production and is used in bags and other packaging that make up a significant part of worldwide plastic pollution. The researchers said the study showed insect saliva may be “a depository of degrading enzymes which could revolutionise ”. The discovery came after one scientist, an amateur beekeeper, cleaned out an infested hive and found the larvae started eating holes in a plastic refuse bag.
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