A group of Japanese researchers have found a new species of bacterium in Japan that they named Ideonella sakaiensis. It is able to eat polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a common type of plastic used in clothing, plastic bottles and food packaging. They speculated that it would be nice if it could be used to break down plastics in landfills, but right now that wouldn’t be feasible because it chomps very slowly. However, it’s possible that the bacterium could be modified to eat PET faster.
But even if they did manage to do this, it would still be preferable to recycle PET, which is 100% recyclable. Plastics often contain additives that can be toxic when released. Also, biodegrading materials releases carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, which would contribute to global warming.
I think that it’s rather strange, that some bacterium could have evolved to eat plastic, but otherwise I don’t think I really care what they do with it—as long as they’re careful. After all, what if someone modified it to eat plastic faster so that it would be more useful, and then it got out in a society where plastic is used extensively?
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