Polyestermite returns?

[graham]

Now the japanese have discovered a plastic eating microbe could the old Polyestermite joke be not so funny?

No doubt boatyards will allready be tooling up ready to apply expensive protective coatings.

 

[macd]

Now the japanese have discovered a plastic eating microbe could the old Polyestermite joke be not so funny?

The key thing about the discovery is that they've isolated the enzyme which works on the plastic and amplified its effect (in the UK). This opens up the potential for convenient large-scale processing to return (PET) plastic to its original components for re-manufacture into something else. Current plastic recycling is very much more limited in what it can achieve.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Further, it only works on two types of plastic - PET and PEF, which are used for most packaging. The Polyester and/or Epoxy resins used for boats are quite different.

 

[sarabande]

Given the propensity of bacteria to mutate to their own advantage, I wonder how we will deal with the polyphage bacteria when it breaks loose and starts eating everything made of plastic ?

 

[Wansworth]

They could do with it on theMaldives!