Scientists have created an enzyme that quickly breaks down plastic bottles so they can be more easily recycled. They discovered the bacteria in a compost heap and found that it reduced plastic to its basic chemical foundation, which can be used to make new plastic items.
The work is a breakthrough because current recycling of bottles does not result in new bottles as the recycled plastic is not of high enough quality (instead it is used for clothing and products such as carpets). Drinks and beauty companies such as Pepsi and L’Oréal are working with the organisation behind the research, Carbios, to help bring the research to commercial scale.
The enzyme in question has been genetically mutated to break down PET bottles by 90% within 10 hours, enough for the material to be reused for new food-grade bottles. Carbios believes that it can scale up the enzyme using fungi, at a cost that is just 4% that of using virgin plastic.
Although heating the bottles to help the degradation process means that, in the end, this recycled plastic will cost more than virgin, the organisation says it will be a more viable product than lower-quality recycled plastic and manufacturers’ backing suggests willingness to move from virgin to this greener alternative.
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Scientists have created an enzyme that quickly breaks down plastic bottles so they can be more easily recycled. They discovered the bacteria in a compost heap and found that it reduced plastic to its basic chemical foundation, which can be used to make new plastic items.
The work is a breakthrough because current recycling of bottles does not result in new bottles as the recycled plastic is not of high enough quality (instead it is used for clothing and products such as carpets). Drinks and beauty companies such as Pepsi and L’Oréal are working with the organisation behind the research, Carbios, to help bring the research to commercial scale.
The enzyme in question has been genetically mutated to break down PET bottles by 90% within 10 hours, enough for the material to be reused for new food-grade bottles. Carbios believes that it can scale up the enzyme using fungi, at a cost that is just 4% that of using virgin plastic.
Although heating the bottles to help the degradation process means that, in the end, this recycled plastic will cost more than virgin, the organisation says it will be a more viable product than lower-quality recycled plastic and manufacturers’ backing suggests willingness to move from virgin to this greener alternative.