Polypropylene has long been a recycling headache. A common plastic used in a wide variety of products, from packaging and toys to furniture and fashion, it accounts for about 28% of the world’s plastic waste, but only one of them is recycled. %only.
Now, thanks to the efforts of researchers at the University of Sydney, refractory polymers may meet that criteria.Published today npj: material degradation, We have successfully biodegraded polypropylene in laboratory experiments using two common strains.
usually found in soil and plants, Aspergillus terreus and Enjodontium album Polypropylene was able to degrade after pretreatment with UV light or heat, reducing plastic by 21 percent over 30 days of incubation and 25-27 percent over 90 days..
“Polypropylene is a common plastic used to make a wide variety of everyday items such as food containers, coat hangers and cling films, but only 1% of it is recycled. It means a high percentage of contamination.” The lead author of the study is Amira Farzana Samat, a PhD student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Sydney.
The researchers hope their method could one day reduce the vast amount of plastic that pollutes the environment and improve our understanding of how plastic pollution naturally degrades under certain conditions. .
“Plastic pollution is one of the biggest waste problems of our time. Pollution is accumulating in the world’s rivers, and it is estimated that 30 million tons are currently in the world’s oceans.
Researchers say polypropylene has a short lifespan as a packaging material, is often contaminated by other materials and plastics, and needs new recycling methods that minimize its environmental impact, so how often it is recycled. is said to be very low.
Mrs Samat’s PhD Supervisor, Professor Ali Abbas of the Department of Chemical and Molecular Engineering and Chief Circular Engineer of Circular Australia said: Our understanding of how plastic degrades is limited. ”
“One of the big questions our results raise is what are the naturally occurring conditions under which plastic degradation can be rapidly traced? I’m looking to explore the role further.”
Professor Dee Carter, an expert in mycology (the study of fungi) in the School of Life and Environmental Sciences and co-author of the study, said: This superpower is due to the production of powerful enzymes, which are excreted and used to break down substrates into simpler molecules that can be absorbed by fungal cells. ”
“In many cases, these fungi have evolved to degrade woody materials, but this ability can be repurposed to attack other substrates. That’s why you’ll find fungi growing on all kinds of man-made materials such as grout, shower curtains, upholstery, and even car headlights.
“Recent research suggests that some fungi may even degrade some of the ‘eternal chemicals’ like PFAS, but the process is slow and still poorly understood. . There is also evidence that the amount of plastic accumulated in the oceans is less than would be expected based on levels of production and disposal, and some of this ‘missing’ plastic was broken down by marine fungi. It is speculated that it is possible.
