Posted on 05/15/2018 11:00:57 AM PDT by TBP
One million plastic water bottles are sold every minute. Only 14 percent are recycled. The rest end up in landfill or in the ocean, taking years to decompose. Scientists have been working on an enzyme that can destroy all these bottles — and now they have succeeded by accident.
UK and US scientists discovered an enzyme in the soil of a plastic landfill. While researching the enzyme, they accidentally caused it to mutate and created an enzyme that can break down plastic much faster than landfills. Currently, plastic bottles can only be recycled into carpets or clothing but this new enzyme breaks down clear plastic bottles so that they can be remade into new bottles. This could eliminate the need to produce new plastic bottles.
Right now, it takes several days for the enzyme to start breaking down the plastic. But scientists believe they can speed up the process, now that they know the enzyme can be manipulated. In the future, the enzyme might be able to break down other types of plastics.
The process is far from perfect and may take years to perfect, but it brings the planet closer to reducing the sea of plastic waste.
They thought they knew so much.
First thing I thought of when I saw the headline.
Read it when it first came out and again a few years ago.
"Capt. Morton: [code phrase] There's a fire, sir."
Oh oh.
So they’re going to drop plastic bag taxes now right?
That was the first movie I saw that actually followed the storyline of the book.
That’s exactly what i was thinking.
What with all the plastic in our lives and so many things that depend on it, I could see this easily backfiring.
end of the world as we know it if this thing actually works and escapes control ...
Metal, wood, bakelite, ivory, tin, porcelain...
Great Si-Fy!! But this is an enzyme not a bacteria, so would only work where applied by humans.
For now........
Or something like that.
Journalists are unfamiliar with the conservation of mass.
The follow up question was, “Break it down into what, exactly?”
I’m sure the average ready has got ‘Pac Man’ in their head.
It appears one has already been mad to degrade plastic. The dash boards of my last Dodge trucks are falling into pieces.
Thanks - I was trying to remember what classic movie that was from.
and 100 octane gas at the pump for .89 a gallon.
Earth First! would weaponize it.
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