🔎 What’s going on?
French green chemistry company, Carbios, has developed a breakthrough enzyme-based recycling method. Scientists have created a mutant enzyme which breaks down plastic bottles within hours.
🐛 What does this mean?
PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) is the world’s most common type of plastic! It’s used to make (drinks) bottles, food containers, packaging and polyester clothing fibres. Scientists have now created a mutant enzyme that can break down plastics from polymers (multiple molecules attached to each other) to monomers (single molecules that are unattached to each other).
An enzyme is a biological molecule that speeds up chemical reactions within cells, for example, enzymes are present within our body and they help with digestion. Essentially, in this case, the enzymes act as scissors to cut the threads of polymers to monomers. Once the plastic is turned into monomers, they get back their qualities of new resin or “virgin PET”. This is referred to as advanced recycling and it’s the first time that a biological process has been proved to enable recycling at such a large scale.
The research has been published in Nature journal by Caribos and their research partner, Toulouse Biotechnology Institute (TBI) where they have outlined how this process can break down almost 90% of plastic waste within 10 hours.
❓Why should I care?
Despite the negative coverage plastic often gets, they are quite useful - they are light, and protect and preserve goods. The main problem here is plastic waste, as they pollute our oceans and waterways affecting wildlife. There are currently three ways that plastic waste is dealt with: it is either recycled, incinerated (burnt) or goes to landfill where it gives out methane or other harmful gases. Existing recycling methods usually only work well for clear bottles and packaging but if the plastic is coloured, opaque or has different layers then it’s quite difficult to recycle them. So a new innovative biological recycling method is very welcome news.
🚦 Where do we need to be?
We need to reach zero waste. That means that plastic waste is not sent to landfills, or burnt - it is recycled and reused over and over again, without a reduction in the quality of plastic. The other option is that they completely breakdown, without harming the environment in any way.
👤 What can I do about it?
As an individual, avoid single-use plastics as much as possible. Instead, use reusable water bottles, coffee keep cups, glass/stainless steel Tupperware to store food. Take grocery bags to the supermarket instead of plastic bags.
As a business, when you choose plastic as a material, educate yourself on the type you are picking, and the recyclability of each type. Here’s a great resource to get you started.