Assistant Professor Miwa Suzuki and his colleagues at the Center for Food and Health Sciences, Gunma University, have developed a new type of marine-degradable plastic in which microorganisms that produce plastic-degrading enzymes are embedded in a dormant state.It is expected to be a trump card for solving the marine plastic litter problem, which is emerging as a global environmental issue.
According to Gunma University, most biodegradable plastics begin to decompose quickly in the soil, but they do not begin to decompose easily once they are out in the sea, which means that they are not fully biodegradable.
Therefore, Assistant Professor Suzuki and his colleagues developed a plastic in which microorganisms that produce degrading enzymes are already trapped inside in a dormant state.When in a dormant state, the microorganisms have high thermal stability, so they can be kneaded into the plastic while it melts.
As a result, even if it is released into the ocean, it exhibits high biodegradability as in the soil.As a countermeasure against marine plastic litter, research has been conducted to incorporate structures that are easy to decompose.
According to environmental protection group WWF Japan, the amount of plastic waste in the world's oceans has reached 1 million tons, and it is estimated that 5,000 million tons are newly released each year.It has been found that undecomposed plastic waste has a serious impact on marine ecosystems, and there is a need to promote countermeasures.
Paper information:[Polymer Degradation and Stability] Control of marine biodegradation of an aliphatic polyester using endospores
