2023-05-10 16:15:06
Prepared by: Mohamed Ezzedine
Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute have discovered microbes in the Alps and the Arctic that can decompose plastics at temperatures as low as 15 degrees Celsius.
Dr. Joel Aarthi and colleagues from the institute sampled 19 strains of bacteria and 15 fungi growing on free plastic or intentionally buried underground for a year in Greenland, Svalbard and Switzerland. They allowed the microbes to grow as mono-strain cultures in the lab in the dark at 15°C and tested them to see if they could analyze different types of plastic.
The results showed that the bacterial strains belong to 13 genera of actinomycetes and proteobacteria, and the fungi belong to 10 genera of cystic mold fungi.
The plastics tested included non-biodegradable polyethylene, polyester and biodegradable polyurethane as well as two commercially available biodegradable blends of polybutylene and lactic acid.
None of the strains were able to digest polyethylene, even after 126 days of incubation on these plastics. However, 19 strains (56%), including 11 fungal and 8 bacterial strains, were able to degrade polypropylene at 15 °C, while 14 fungal and three bacterial strains were able to decompose plastic mixtures.
“The new microbial taxa obtained from the ‘plastic wrap’ of Alpine and Arctic soils were able to break down biodegradable plastics at 15°C,” Rutte said. These organisms can help reduce the costs and environmental burden of the enzymatic recycling of plastics.”
Surprisingly, he said, a large portion of the laboratory strains were able to analyze at least one of the tested plastics.
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