Australian plastic-eating fungus targets polypropylene waste crisis
A newly isolated marine-derived fungus that can degrade polypropylene, discovered by Australian researchers, could represent a breakthrough in the battle against plastic waste.
The team at the University of Sydney, supervised by Professor Ali Abbas, said that while laboratory testing is still ongoing, the initial results show a promising improvement over their earlier findings.
In 2023, the team first discovered terrestrial fungi capable of degrading polypropylene by 21 per cent after 30 days and up to 27 per cent after 90 days, the highest rate of degradation they had seen documented globally.
The new marine-derived fungus currently being tested shows promise to exceed plastic-degrading potential of the terrestrial fungus, the team says.
The polypropylene is first pretreated with heat or UV light before being combined with the fungi in a liquid solution and left to incubate in a shaker, where the degradation happens.
REUTERS / THE OCEAN CLEANUP
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