Plastic is possibly the greatest commercial creation of last 150
years. It's made it into tupperware, saran wrap, toys, car parts,
computer parts, smartphones, and shopping bag all over the world. The
only problem is that polyurethane is not biodegradable, and recycling
plastic can be equated to just turning it into another product, so all
that plastic already in landfills will stay there for centuries to come.
Scientists have not found a single way to break down
polyurethane--luckily, nature has found a way on its own. Yale
scientists recently found a fungus in the Amazonian rainforest that
naturally eats polyurethane.This is the first fungus species, identified by the Yale researchers
as Pestalotiopsis microspore, which exclusively subsists on
polyurethane. It can also grow in an anaerobic (air-less) environment,
which will hopefully allow it to take root in the deepest regions of our
trash heaps.
Jonathan Russell, a Yale scientists of the group, has managed to
isolated an enzyme the fungus uses decompose plastic. The scientists
hope to use the extracted chemical to eliminate plastic trash and to
help in bioremediation projects.