[rfp1234]

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[SamuraiScot]

Researchers have found that the marine fungus Parengyodontium album can break down polyethylene in the ocean when exposed to UV light, suggesting the presence of more plastic-degrading fungi in deeper waters.

Plastic degrades naturally after all? And all our waste-processing equipment would have to do in order to maximize the ocean's plastic-eating efficiency is to make sure garbage is exposed to daylight on the way through?

This is terrible news. How will we be able to justify dismantling Western technology and civilization and killing more babies through abortion to reduce the number of "useless eaters" on the earth? We'll have to think of another excuse!

[Fungi]

Thank you. This is not the first fungus that can degrade plastic, a number of terrestrial fungi have been shown to do so. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9330918/

A number of mushrooms can also eat plastic, one being the osyter mushroom, Pleurotus osteatus. You might ask how they do this? Easy, fungi are enzyme producing wizards. They make enzymes that recycle almost everything and are the curators of the dark places. If not for fungi, the earth would be one big garbage pile.