On March 11th 2015, scientists announced that they had discovered a new variety of bacteria that eats and digests plastic. The plastic in question is polyethylene terephthalate or PET, which is used in the making of, packaging trays, blister packs, bottles, and polyester clothing. The bacteria is named, Ideonella Sakaiensis, and was discovered by a team of researchers working at the Kyoto Institute of Technology and Keio University in Japan.
The new bacteria was discovered outside a bottle recycling plant. The research team took samples of the soil, sediment, and waste water from around the plant. All of the samples were contaminated by PET. When they tested the samples they found that a microbe was degrading the plastic. More tests revealed that the bacteria, Ideonella Sakaiensis did so through the use of two enzymes.
The team found that the first enzyme was used to create an intermediate chemical that the second enzyme uses to break down the plastic into carbon and energy. Their tests showed that this process allowed the bacteria to degrade low quality plastic in about six weeks. However, the bacteria has a harder time breaking down highly crystallized PET that is found in most hard plastic.
At this time, the potential applications of the research team's findings are not clear. While they are not certain that Ideonella Sakaiensis could be used to help clean up the environment, they do believe that it might lead to the creation of other biological agents that are capable of breaking down other types of plastics.
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