Hear Me Out: Plastic-eating Bacteria. Wait no! Not Flesh-eating Bacteria..

If you‘re a school student, you have most likely gone through this specific situation.

The one where you feel thirsty, and so make your way to the school cafeteria to purchase a bottle of water that you will drink throughout the day before thoughtlessly throwing it into the nearest trash can. A typical, meaningless situation; one that is simply a part of your incessant routine. But do you know where that plastic bottle goes from there?

80% of plastic bottles end up in landfills or at sea, meaning only a small 20% is properly recycled. How is that bad? Well, plastic debris can cause harmful chemicals to seep into the water and injure the wildlife. Additionally, floating plastic waste may serve as a means of transportation for invasive species, causing a disruption in the ecosystem. I, unfortunately, could go on and on. hese are only a few of the many harms of plastic waste.

However, in 2016, researchers at a Japanese bottle-recycling facility discovered ‘plastic-eating bacteria’. These bacteria produce two types of enzymes: PETase and MHETase. They break down common plastic (polyethylene terephthalate - PET) into its building blocks.

This bacteria was then modified in 2018 by the Center for Enzyme Innovation to increase the speed at which PETase broke down PET. Eventually, the center went as far as creating a “super-enzyme” by stitching together the DNA of the two aforementioned enzymes (PETase and MHETase).

The super-enzyme was created in order to make use of each enzyme’s process efficiently. Their processes being PETase attacking the surface of the plastic while MHETase broke it down into smaller pieces. Joining these processes together breaks down plastic almost six times faster than the original modified bacteria from 2018.

While the discoveries being made surely do put our minds at ease, we should still be actively decreasing our plastic consumption. We can’t depend on plastic-eating bacteria just yet; at the moment, we might be producing more plastic than they can stomach.

So before you purchase that plastic water bottle, ask yourself if there are better alternatives, such as using a reusable and transportable bottle. You’ll be doing the world a favor. Change follows the domino effect: it starts with you, then your friends, their family, and so on. Let’s make this world a little more breathable.