Polypropylene makes up nearly a third of the world's plastics. It is used to create hard plastics that take centuries to degrade from the environment.
Thinking of ways to speed up this process, scientists discovered two types of fungi , found in nature, capable of destroying laboratory samples of polypropylene in just 140 days.
According to the researchers' records, fungi such as Aspergillus terreus and Engyodontium album were able to devour between 25% and 27% of the samples after 90 days – completely destroying the plastic after 140 days.
"This is the highest reduction rate reported in the literature worldwide," Ali Abbas, a chemical engineer at the University of Sydney, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- Record-breaking bacteria capable of chewing plastic has been discovered in the compost pile. They were able to destroy 90% of polyethylene in just 16 hours;
- In addition to these two groups, it was discovered that more than 400 microorganisms are capable of degrading plastic naturally.
"Recent research suggests that some fungi can even break down some 'permanent chemicals' like PFAS, but they don't," says de Carter, a microbiologist at the University of Sydney in Australia. This process is slow and not yet fully understood.
Although it is not yet known how fungi are able to destroy plastic, it is believed that microorganisms degrade these materials through simpler molecules, facilitating absorption or excretion. In addition, this process requires a pre-treatment step using UV light, heat or a chemical reagent, in order to weaken the material and facilitate the work of fungi.
"We need to help develop non-destructive recycling technologies that improve plastic recycling," Abbas said.
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