In a major scientific discovery that may permanently solve the problem of urban garbage to landfills, it has come to light that a special species of bacteria can degenerate plastics. If the field trials are successful, it can bring about a total revolution in the solution of urban garbage problem across the world.
Dr Devjani Banerjee, Assistant Professor – Biochemistry, A&R Patel Institute of Integrated Study & Research in Biotechnology and Allied Sciences (ARIBAS), Gujarat, has identified three species of bacteria that can degenerate plastics in days. The ARIBAS-scientist will conduct field trials using waste from landfill sites and examine the capacity of these bacteria to degenerate plastics in a non-controlled atmosphere.
During the experiment, the degradation process of plastics took two months in the controlled laboratory environment. If the scientific test is successful, these special types of bacteria and their clones can be released in landfills to degenerate plastics.