Plastic-Eating Fungus May Solve World's Waste Problems

Plastic was a material invented from around 1800s-1950s as a light-weight practical material that would be for everyday use replacing materials such as glass and other various metals. Today it is most commonly used for everyday consumer goods such as bottles, toys, technologies, and frankly everything. It is fair to say that over 85% of today's production revolves around plastic and it has become an essential part of our lives. However, let’s say you drink a bottle of water per day on average, and you throw it in your garbage can, where does it end up? It ends up in landfills or even worse in our precious oceans killing species in and around the water such as birds and fish. The birds and fish eat the plastics from the ocean and as some die some are still alive with plastics in their bodies which all end up in our bodies by eating this fish. The general cycle of waste just comes back to us which means we need to preserve and conserve our environment one of the most common ways of conserving is by recycling, a method used mainly in the MEDC's while not practiced by LEDC's. However, with the rise of technologies the mankind will most likely end up finding an efficient way to reduce or store all garbage not only plastics.

Recently in a expedition to the Amazon led Yale students to discover a type of fungus which allegedly can break-down plastic. The fungus is called pestalotiopsis microspora which is according to research only break down polyurethane the most commonly used plastic especially for garden hoses, toys, foam, shoes, bags and many more. What is even better about the fungi is that it can anaerobically (without oxygen) digest polyurethane, which means that it can be used at the bottom of a landfill where there is barely oxygen which is a positive side. This finding was accidental as the purpose of exploration through the Amazon and Ecuador was for "students to experience the scientific inquiry process in a comprehensive and creative way." 

As waste management is a big problem all around the globe, these findings are beneficial to our environment because only in us 32 million tons was thrown away while only 9% was recycled. In some countries recycling rates are even below 1%, mainly LEDC's for which this fungus would be beneficial as they could set it up in landfills and not invest in plastics recycling plants.

 Article Link: http://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/8922/20140908/plastic-eating-fungus-may-solve-worlds-waste-problems.htm

By Jenna Iacurci

Sep 08, 2014 10:23 AM EDT

Where has all the Plastic gone?

National Geographic
Where has all the (Sea Trash) Plastic gone?
Laura Parker
June 13, 2014
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/06/140613-ocean-trash-garbage-patch-plastic-science-kerry-marine-debris/

As it is commonly know that most of the used plastic ends in the oceans, giant garbage patches are formed floating in so called convergence zones. Through the oceans current the plastic particles are being transported to areas in the Pacific forming the; Western Garbage Patch, and the Eastern Patch.



The problems with these garbage patches is that they are not directly noticeable as the plastic degrades into micro particles floating under the water surface, these are then eaten by fish which mistake them for food and digested, Through fish eating these plastic particles they often become either infertile or have other health impacts.

When Spanish scientist Andres Cozar Cabanas created the first ever global map of ocean trash, he discovered that other than expected most of the plastic which should have floated near the surface was infact not there. Through increased plastic production it had been exprcted that there would also be more plastic present in the ocean. A recent study though published claims that the plastic broke down even further and now is embedded in the ocean floors sediments. Through this our foodchain is even more in danger as it already has been recorded that mammals and fish eat plastic particles. Every sqaure kilometer of deep ocean contains 4 billion plastic fibers, with the width of a human hair and a proximatly a lenght of 4cm. Further studies conducted showed that microfibres in the indian ocean settle mostly on corals, causing damage as light is blocked.

Generally this new research shows how much humans dont understand in the end what happens with out garbage. The overall health risks are still not fully understood, making plastic a potential threat as it enters our food chain. Overall the way plastic is disposed has to be rethinked, as to prevent it from entering out food chains and our oceans. Stopping the usage of plastic bags, or reducing is a good start as these cheap plastics especially enter our food chains easily as they break down the fastest.