ABSTRACT

The amount of plastic produced worldwide has gone up exponentially since its initial need during World War II. Following the war, there was a shift in plastics being used for military purposes to being used by the average consumer. Plastics became increasingly popular with their durability, flexibility, and ability to meet the consumers’ daily needs from bottles, to clothing, and much more. The 1960s saw a new outlook on environmental problems, one of many being realizing the amount of plastic debris in our oceans. While many plastic products then, and still today, are easily disposable, these inorganic plastics last indefinitely in the organic world, never decomposing and piling up in landfills or other disposal areas.

Poly(ethylene terephthalate) or PET is a major component in plastic products and up until recently, it was thought only a few fungal species could naturally degrade the sturdy polymer enzymatically, making it close to impossible to use as a recycling strategy. In March 2016, a team of scientists reported that they had found a bacterium outside of a PET bottle recycling facility that degraded plastic and used it as a primary energy source. This bacterium, Ideonella sakaiensis, contains two enzymes that slice through the repeating polymers that typically stop other microbes from degrading plastics.

Although there are efforts being made by the everyday person to reduce, reuse, and recycle plastics, the amount of plastic produced worldwide continues to increase. On top of this amount being made and left unable to degrade naturally, the actual process of making plastics releases carbon dioxide, adding to the already high emission pollution problem. This paper will go into depth about Ideonella sakaiensis, its discovery and how the enzymes work. It will then discuss the practicality and potential of using this bacterium on a larger scale to help with the plastic pollution problems worldwide.