Plastic problems? Just eat it

Edited by Michelle Ho

Although plastics are undeniably useful and convenient, the toll they have on animals and our environment is heartbreakingly obvious. Within the next ten years, the industry is anticipated to surpass coal-fired power plants in its contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. However, a company named Enzymity has come up with a way to reduce plastic waste with bacteria. 

The goal of Enzymity's future plastic packaging strategy is to achieve genuine circularity. With a little assistance from bacteria that eat plastic, they modify naturally occurring enzymes to produce supercharged mutants that can break down fossil fuel plastics on a large scale. Enzymity's "biorecycling" approach goes several steps further than traditional "mechanical recycling," breaking down polymers into their molecular constituents. These base chemicals can be transformed into completely new plastics that are identical to virgin materials created from fossil fuels. Or used in other products, like paints or coatings, and thus making it possible to recycle plastics indefinitely without losing any of their quality or properties. 

Like the Barbie Girl song, “life in plastic, it's fantastic”. Of course, Barbie forgot to think of the animals. With the help of Enzymity’s bacteria, we can continue to use plastic with minimal impact on animals, in a plastic-al way.

Bibliography

• https://edu.rsc.org/feature/plastic-waste/3009361.article 

• https://enzymity.com/