RE: Sustainable Development #13 Plastic Pollution

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Sustainable Development #13 Plastic Pollution

in livesustainably •  6 years ago 

There seems to be two enzymes produced by a bacteria (Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6) that can do the job together, according to Science: "By screening natural microbial communities exposed to PET in the environment, we isolated a novel bacterium, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6, that is able to use PET as its major energy and carbon source. When grown on PET, this strain produces two enzymes capable of hydrolyzing PET and the reaction intermediate, mono(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalic acid. Both enzymes are required to enzymatically convert PET efficiently into its two environmentally benign monomers, terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol." http://science.sciencemag.org/content/351/6278/1196

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