Academics in the US claim to have developed a biodegradable plastic.
Researchers led by the University of California San Diego said their new version of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) would break down even in a microbe-free environment.
Bacterial spores were fed into an extruding machine alongside TPU pellets to create thin strips of material that could be used in commercial applications such as footwear.
However, when exposed to nutrients present in compost, the spores germinated and began to break down the polymers, according to the paper published in journal Nature Communications.
“It’s an inherent property of these bacteria,” said Jon Pokorski, a nanoengineering professor at the univeristy.
“We took a few strains and evaluated their ability to use TPUs as a sole carbon source, then picked the one that grew the best.”
Under certain test conditions, the plastic strips reached 90 per cent degradation within five months.
The researchers plan study what gets left behind after the material degrades, but note that any lingering bacterial spores are likely to be harmless.
