There is hope for improving the world's dismal recycling rate of certain plastics as scientists in Australia claim they have developed a technique to utilize a backyard mold to break down tough plastics.
Groundbreaking Discovery
Experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney found that the fungi Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album, both of which are commonly found in plants and soil, could be used to degrade plastic, as reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Friday, April 14.
For the studied polymer compounds, it took the fungus about 140 days to completely decompose them.
A chemical engineering professor at the institution, Ali Abbas, told the media that it is the highest degradation rate reported in the scientific literature in the world.
As featured on Insider, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that research is being conducted at the University of Sydney to improve the fungi's degrading process and make it suitable for large-scale commercial applications.
Abbas estimated that it would take three to five years to complete the study, and he noted that there were a number of behavioral and commercial concerns that needed to be addressed during that period.
"We can't afford to wait, we do need to act," Abbas told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
"We need the behavioral issues, we need the social issues, we need the business issues, all of these need to be resolved around the plastics problem. The technology is only half the solution."
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US Recycling Crisis
This is encouraging news in light of a 2022 Greenpeace analysis which indicated that most recycled plastics in the US alone either end up in the ocean or in landfills, where they release harmful toxins into the air. NPR reports that just 5% of plastics were really recycled into new products.
Greenpeace USA's senior plastic campaigner Lisa Ramsden said at the time that the situation might be made far worse by the potential tripling of plastic output by industries as we reach 2050.
"More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled," Ramsden stated.
The Columbia Climate School notes that due to the prevalence of food and other contaminants, plastic recycling continues to be a significant problem in the waste management sector.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, in 2018, the US produced 292.4 million tons of municipal solid trash, yet only 94 million tons of this was recycled or composted. Meanwhile, the organization estimates that roughly 146 million tons of rubbish (or 50%) was disposed of in landfills and that about 35 million tons of waste (or about 12%) was burned.
Numerous studies are being undertaken on this issue, said ABC News.
The University of Sydney's experiment builds on the expanding amount of literature on the use of microorganisms, including algae, bacteria, enzymes, and fungus, to degrade plastic.
However, there is also significant research on pyrolysis and incineration, which is the process of burning materials.
