Imagine a world where mountains of landfill waste are no longer a concern. The solution might be closer than we think, thanks to a groundbreaking discovery: a plastic-eating enzyme. This biological marvel could revolutionize waste management and redefine our approach to sustainability.
An enzyme variant created by engineers and scientists at The University of Texas at Austin can break down environment-throttling plastics that typically take centuries to degrade in just a matter of hours to days
This discovery could help solve one of the world’s most pressing environmental problems: what to do with the billions of tons of plastic waste piling up in landfills and polluting our natural lands and water.
FAST-PETase can perform the process at less than 50 degrees Celsius
The team plans to work on scaling up enzyme production to prepare for industrial and environmental application
- Cleaning up landfills and greening high waste-producing industries are the most obvious.
- Another key potential use is environmental remediation
Journal Reference:
Hongyuan Lu, Daniel J. Acosta, Bradley R. Alexander, Hannah O. Cole, Yan Zhang, Nathaniel A. Lynd, Andrew D. Ellington, Hal S. Alper
