Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research (WSL) have discovered microorganisms capable of digesting plastics at low temperatures, which could revolutionize the recycling industry. Although microbes with this ability were already known, most of their enzymes required temperatures above 30°C, making the process expensive and not carbon-neutral. However, microorganisms obtained from alpine and arctic soils can break down biodegradable plastics at 15°C, which could reduce the costs and environmental burden of the recycling process.
In the study, scientists took samples of 19 bacterial strains and 15 fungal strains growing on plastic buried in soils in Switzerland, Greenland, and the Svalbard archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. The microbes were cultured in the laboratory under conditions of complete darkness and at 15°C, allowing researchers to identify strains that could decompose different biodegradable plastics at this temperature. Although none of the strains were able to digest non-biodegradable polyethylene, 19 of them could digest biodegradable polyester-polyurethane, and 14 fungi and three bacteria were able to digest biodegradable plastic blends.
Two species of fungi were able to digest all plastics tested, except non-biodegradable ones. Although this discovery is a significant breakthrough in the fight against plastic pollution, scientists emphasize that there are still challenges to be faced, such as identifying the enzymes that degrade plastic produced by microbial strains and optimizing the process to obtain large amounts of protein. In conclusion, the discovery of microorganisms capable of digesting plastics at low temperatures is an important step forward in the fight against plastic pollution, but further research is needed to develop a sustainable and scalable recycling process.