The Super Enzyme- Can It Eliminate Plastic Pollution?

By Garvit Garg | November 13, 2022

PLASTIC is the main ingredient of all our super enzymes' recipe.

All thanks to science community, the scientists who have discovered a super enzyme

that can eat up the plastic. Yes you read it right. A super enzyme given us as a gift by our

mother nature earth and presented in front of us by scientists.

PLASTIC- A AMJOR CONCERN

Plastic has become an integral part of our daily life. A life without plastics! Isn’t it

unimaginable. Global plastic pollution - estimated at 300 million tonnes a year - has also

reached such alarming levels that it is predicted that there will be more plastic in our

oceans than fish by 2050. And every year, billions of pounds of more plastic end up in

the worlds oceans. Beside this the landfills seem as it is engulfing the land resource at

an speed of bullet train.

Polyethylene is the main ingredient in most bottles, shirts, and carpeting. It takes a

couple hundred years for polyethylene to break down in the environment (and even

when it does break down, it becomes a microplastic).

Plastic pollution has contaminated the whole planet from Arctic to deepest ocean and

people are known to consume and breathe microplastic particles.

Despite all the plastic filling our landfills, oceans and lungs, there is finally some good

news. “ The super enzyme”.

DIVE INTO THE DISCOVERY

Japanese scientists discovered PETase in 2016. The enzyme hails from the bacteria

Ideonella sakaiensis. As the enzyme breaks down plastic, the bacteria produce

MHETase. The MHETase enzyme finishes the process by breaking down the pieces

further. Scientists were able to combine the DNA of both PETase and MHETase. This

combination boosts the breakdown process of PET and makes it six times faster! The

combination of these enzymes combines to create the “super-enzyme”. After this

process, other bacteria are able to break down the products into CO2 and water.

French company Carbios revealed a different enzyme in April, originally discovered in a

compost heap of leaves, that degrades 90% of plastic bottles within 10 hours, but

requires heating above 70C.

The new super-enzyme works at room temperature, and McGeehan said combining

different approaches could speed progress towards commercial use: “If we can make

better, faster enzymes by linking them together and provide them to companies like

Carbios, and work in partnership, we could start doing this within the next year or two.”

The 2018 work had determined that the structure of one enzyme, called PETase, can

attack the hard, crystalline surface of plastic bottles. They found, by accident, that one

mutant version worked 20% faster. The new study analyzed a second enzyme also found

in the Japanese bacteria that doubles the speed of the breakdown of the chemical

groups liberated by the first enzyme.

Scientists believe this is a natural adaptation by the bacteria. This adaptation is possibly

in response to the large number of plastics in the environment. ( that why I believe that

it is a gift to us by our mother nature earth).

The super-enzyme, derived from bacteria that naturally evolved the ability to eat plastic,

enables the full recycling of the bottles. Scientists believe combining it with enzymes

that break down cotton could also allow mixed-fabric clothing to be recycled. Today,

millions of tonnes of such clothing is either dumped in landfill or incinerated.

BUGS ARE ALSO IN THIS RACE TO DESTROY PLASTIC

The prospect of nature assisting us in cleaning up the environment is exciting.

The I. sakaiensis bacteria is not the only natural creature that is able to break down

plastics.

Mealworms are able to consume polystyrene and polyethylene plastic.  The worm’s gut

bacteria break down the plastic into safe products like the I. sakaiensis. In a study at

Stanford, mealworms ate their way through a styrofoam cup in about a week.

The waste products from this diet are carbon dioxide and other safe materials.  None of

the plastic stays inside the mealworm. This reduces the risk of contaminating up the

food chain.

This is not a quick fix, unfortunately. To break down a single styrofoam cup in a week,

you need hundreds of mealworms.

Waxworms are another species that has the ability to eat plastics.  Their ability to do

this was an accidental discovery.

Waxworms are a nuisance and a pest in the beekeeping community.  These worms eat

through the wax in beehives. This causes devastating damage to the hives.

WHAT SHOULD BE OUR NEXT STEP?

The prospects of having a revamped system of recycling is exciting. The ability to break

down plastic six times faster than biodegradation is remarkable.

Imagine the world finally reducing the heaps of plastic filling landfills. With this enzyme,

we can revolutionize the polyethylene system of recycling.

This is a great first step in creating a better earth for future generations!

It is also incredible to think that mother nature is helping to fight the pollution problem

as well.

Now the most important question- What can you do to help with this plastic issue?

Above all, we humans finally and ultimately need to reduce our consumption this is

the only final solution.