A group of researchers has created a superenzyme that degrades plastic bottles six times faster than before and that could be used for recycling in one or two years.
The superenzyme, derived from bacteria that naturally developed the ability to eat plastic, allows the complete recycling of bottles. In addition, they maintain that by combining it with enzymes that decompose cotton clothes could also be recycled.
We still recycle little
Barely 10 % of plastic is recycled in the United States. This is because recycling plastic is not easy. However, things could change thanks to this discovery. Plastics can take hundreds of years to degrade naturally in the environment, but this new combination of enzymes can do it in a matter of days.
These engineered enzymes, described in A study published this week in the magazine Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were derived from plastic-eating bacteria discovered for the first time by Japanese scientists in 2016. This feat is impressive, but slow. Since its discovery, researchers have been working to improve the efficiency of their enzymes.
This illustration shows how the researchers were able to join the two enzymes (MHETase and PETase) to create a new super enzyme that breaks down plastic more efficiently than either enzyme alone.
Researchers claim their 'superenzyme' could be used to recycle plastic 'within a year or two' because it is 'still too slow' to be commercially viable.
The superenzyme can also deal with polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a bioplastic that is used in some beer bottles, but cannot break down other types of plastic such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC).
Environmental activists point out that reducing the use of plastic is key, but the truth is that alternatives to plastic pose other challenges. Strong and light materials like plastic are very useful and it is true recycling that can allow us to combat the problem of pollution.
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The news
New enzyme could enable infinite recycling of common PET plastic used in water bottles and clothing
was originally published in
Xataka Science
by
Sergio Parra
.