when present in sufficient amounts, the enzyme can cleanse waste facilities, landfills and other locations adversely affected by plastic pollution.
by rick richardson
technology this week
the globe is grappling with a massive plastic pollution catastrophe. the university of texas at austin has discovered an enzyme that consumes plastic, which could be a crucial breakthrough in combating the issue.
according to research, the amount of plastic produced worldwide has doubled in the past 20 years. much of it is burned, dumped in landfills or released into the environment, particularly the oceans.
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only 9 percent of plastic is successfully recycled, while 22 percent of plastic is mishandled, according to the organization for economic co-operation and development’s (oecd) global plastics outlook report. teams of scientists and researchers are constantly dedicating time and resources to devising novel solutions to the expanding issue of plastic pollution worldwide. plastic is not naturally biodegradable.
researchers at the university of texas (ut) in austin developed a machine learning method to produce a new type of enzyme that can break down plastic.
according to estimates from the united nations environment programme (unep), around 7 billion tons of plastic manufactured between 1950 and 2017 were disposed of as plastic garbage in landfills or discarded. plastic trash has the potential to
- seriously harm the environment and its natural processes,
- fuel climate change,
- have an adverse effect on the livelihoods of millions of people and
- reduce the world’s capacity to produce food.
if chlorinated plastic is not disposed of or degraded correctly, it can spread dangerous chemicals and affect ecosystems, groundwater and the surrounding soil.
rising plastic pollution levels might affect human health and well-being. researchers think children are more likely than adults to be exposed to microplastics and their smaller equivalents, known as nanoplastics. microplastics can have negative health effects on children, such as inflammation and dna damage. adults with persistent inflammation may require medical attention to get the care they need.
plastic negatively affects the ecosystem and the weaker animal populations that live in affected areas. because of the increasing quantity of plastic contaminating natural areas and waterways worldwide, it is imperative to implement new technologies and provide substitute packaging to address the underlying causes of pollution.
hal alper is the head of the engineering biology group at the university of texas at austin’s mcketta department of chemical engineering. in addition, he holds the position of fellow and professor at ut’s les and sherri stuewer professorship in chemical engineering.
alper and his group of scientists and engineers used machine learning to develop a hydrolase enzyme variation. the enzyme may break down one of the most widely used polymers today, pet (polyethylene terephthalate), into its constituent components.
the pet polymer is most frequently seen in consumer packaged goods such as throwaway food trays and containers for drinks, salad dressing and fruit. a review published in the national library of medicine states that in 2021, pet packaging was responsible for 44.7 percent of single-serve beverage packaging in the u.s. and 12 percent of solid trash worldwide.
however, when pet plastic trash decomposes, it may be recycled to make brand-new pet materials, effectively establishing a circular plastics economy. previous attempts at enzymatic degradation failed primarily because they were not strong enough against changes in ph, temperature and reaction rates.
throughout the investigation, alper and the ut austin team discovered that the unique plastic-eating enzyme, known as fast-petase (functional, active, stable and tolerant petase), can degrade polymers far more quickly than other pet hydrolases employed in earlier research. it can also break down products made of transparent and mixed-color pet plastic.
the novel fast-petase enzyme destroyed untreated, post-consumer pet from 51 different items almost entirely in just one week. the scientists also revealed that parts of a commercial water bottle and a completely thermally prepared water bottle may be broken down at 50 degrees celsius.
this new enzyme has endless potential to help many sectors reduce their trash because it can break down plastics swiftly and extensively.
managing the outside temperature is one of the biggest obstacles to many environmental cleanup projects. enzymatic breakdown is ineffective because the plastic-eating enzyme is temperature-sensitive.
the fast-petase enzyme works well outside of laboratories because it can concurrently break down plastic and adapt to temperature changes. environmental organizations that work to clean up the environment may benefit from this new revelation.
when present in sufficient amounts, the enzyme can cleanse waste facilities, landfills and other locations adversely affected by plastic pollution. the plastic-eating enzyme is widely applicable, portable and reasonably priced. machine learning plays a vital role in this research.
the university of texas team filed a patent to investigate the potential uses of this novel technology. the objective is to increase the fast-petase enzyme’s production to a larger scale for industrial and environmental applications. observing how this finding may be applied and whether it contributes to solving the plastic pollution problem will be fascinating.