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AlterNet reports
Thanks to a group of [students from Yale's Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry] who discovered a new type of fungus in the Ecuadorian rainforest, a semi-solution may soon be available to help speed up the decomposition process of plastics sitting in landfills.
[...]The fungus is the first one that is known to survive on polyurethane alone, and it can do so in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment, suggesting it could be used at the bottom of landfills.
[...]A large reason plastics like polyurethane take so long to break down is that microorganisms don't typically recognize it as food, therefore it can take centuries for man-made polymers to break down into microscopic granules. The discovery of Pestalotiopsis microspora may change all that.
The students of Yale isolated the enzyme that enables the fungus to break down plastic then observed its potential.
"The broad distribution of activity observed and the unprecedented case of anaerobic growth using [polyester polyurethane] as the sole carbon source suggest that endophytes are a promising source of biodiversity from which to screen for metabolic properties useful for bioremediation," they wrote in a report published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @03:45PM
...make our guts host the fungus and then when we can eat our delicious McDonalds burgers, wrapper and all!
(Score: 4, Funny) by Snow on Monday June 22 2015, @04:39PM
Because McDonalds burgers are wrapped with waxed paper, not plastic.
Although it might help with digesting their cheese.
(Score: 3, Informative) by EvilSS on Monday June 22 2015, @05:32PM
What McDonalds are you eating at that packages their burgers in polyurethane? They used to use polystyrene but they switched to cardboard boxes a few years ago.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday June 22 2015, @07:26PM
They switched to paper for food packaging in 1990. It was only in 2013 that they stopped using styrofoam for hot beverage cups.
(Score: 1) by WillAdams on Monday June 22 2015, @04:07PM
Why break it down? Why not recycle it?
I've often joked w/ my kids that their kids would be mining our landfills for raw materials --- why not instead work up a technique to dig through all this stuff, sort it and make new things out of it?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Thexalon on Monday June 22 2015, @04:30PM
Because the plastic currently resides in a a big pile of non-plastic stuff, and sorting out the plastic from the other stuff is expensive.
"Think of how stupid the average person is. Then realize half of 'em are stupider than that." - George Carlin
(Score: 4, Funny) by toygeek on Monday June 22 2015, @05:06PM
That's where the grandkids come in...
There is no Sig. Okay, maybe a short one. http://miscdotgeek.com
(Score: 3, Interesting) by morgauxo on Monday June 22 2015, @05:45PM
It's probably easier than extracting oil from shale to make new plastic. Those sources that are too difficult to be worth the trouble today are the cheapest options when the easiest sources start to run out. I think we should leave the plastic alone, future generations will probably need it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @05:24PM
I think they're missing the big(ger) picture. Delivering this fungus to the ocean locations that are teaming with plastics could help address a serious dilemma that is wreaking havoc on the environment. Not needing oxygen is certainly a plus.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by EvilSS on Monday June 22 2015, @05:35PM
Introducing a non-native species into the bowels of a landfill is bad enough, you want to dump it into the oceans as well? Because what could possibly go wrong there?
(Score: 2) by morgauxo on Monday June 22 2015, @05:47PM
I don't think so. TFA says the fungi thrive in an environment similar to that of a landfill. The open ocean is a completely different environment. Most of the time it isn't even anarobic! I would love to see the plastic cleaned up from the ocean too but this is unlikely to be the way.
(Score: 2) by mcgrew on Tuesday June 23 2015, @12:46PM
What byproducts are produced by these organisms? Buried plastic is no threat to the environment, and since plastic is made from oil, burying plastic is carbon sequestration.
Are the Republicans really in favor of genocide, or are they just cowards terrified of terrorist twit Trump?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by kaszz on Monday June 22 2015, @04:19PM
If it can break down plastic materials you don't want. It may also break down objects made of plastic that you want to keep around. And if this fungus spreads around the globe it may cause untold damage and require faster production of more plastic materials.
So watch out for every problem fix that seems to be the right solution. It might come back and bite you.
(Score: 5, Funny) by iwoloschin on Monday June 22 2015, @04:23PM
Nonsense. We'll just release some toads to eat the mold and it'll probably be fine.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @04:31PM
Scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday June 22 2015, @04:45PM
Invasive species? What could go wrong?
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/07/21/invasive-pythons-threaten-florida-everglades [usnews.com]
We're gonna be able to vacation in Gaza, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran and maybe Minnesota soon. Incredible times.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @05:02PM
This could serendipitously solve the problem of improper records retention that privacy advocates have been complaining about.
Everyone wins!
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Jiro on Monday June 22 2015, @05:16PM
I'm pretty sure I read this book in the 1970's. [amazon.com]
(Score: 2) by mtrycz on Monday June 22 2015, @07:33PM
Yes, I came here just to say the same thing: if this thing goes out of control for some reason, it's the end of our civilization as we know it.
In capitalist America, ads view YOU!
(Score: 5, Interesting) by captain normal on Monday June 22 2015, @04:27PM
First, I've never seen an "airless" landfill.
Second, if, as article says, this fungus has a "...voracious appetite for a global waste problem: polyurethane." then not only will our waste plastics be toast, what happens when the spores get loose in our environment. Bye bye cable insulation, as well as fiber optics. For the last 50 years or so all our drain waste piping and (in recent years) water supply piping as well as natural gas piping depend on polyurethane. All our cars and trucks depend on stuff made using polyurethane. Even your computer will disintegrate.
The Musk/Trump interview appears to have been hacked, but not a DDOS hack...more like A Distributed Denial of Reality.
(Score: 3, Funny) by snick on Monday June 22 2015, @04:47PM
I was getting pretty bummed by your analysis. At least you ended with the upside
(Score: 2, Troll) by VLM on Monday June 22 2015, @05:14PM
The list above of applications is just a made up list of plastics in general. Here's a real list for this specific polymer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_polyurethane_applications [wikipedia.org]
I'm sure you can F with the composition of the plastic to kill mold/bacteria in many applications. The hard part is going to be stuff people touch, like spandex (god save the yoga pants) or furniture cushions. Most of the rest of the applications are vaguely insulation/foam based and can use a different formulation, or rely on lack of moisture or fungus killing additives.
I wonder if its a general isocyanate problem or the fungus specifically only eats polyurethane. Usually the weirder a bug is, the more specific it is, so isocyanates in general are probably pretty safe (well, safe from this bug LOL)
So release of this fungus into the wild will be survivable.
There's a reason why we produce an octo-bazzilion metric tons of this plastic yet this fungus hasn't spread past one landfill and it's not just luck.
I would imagine the Chinese will start shipping us urethane based plastic junk that is pre-infected with the fungus to increase sales. Imagine furniture with cushions that dissolve in one year, requiring annual re-purchase, they're counting the money already.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @05:16PM
it can do so in an anaerobic (oxygen-free) environment, suggesting it could be used at the bottom of landfills.
First, I've never seen an "airless" landfill.
What you means is that you've never seen the bottom of a landfill
Don't confuse anerobic with airless.
The summary even spelled it out for you: oxygen-free.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday June 22 2015, @07:59PM
I have been chastised here for linking to non-techie sites.
I like the way those generally break things down into bite-sized bits so an everyman can consume them.
As I was preparing the summary, I was thinking that the thing you pointed to might be a little too kindergarten for this crowd.
After this subthread, I'm now less inclined to second-guess myself.
-- gewg_
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Monday June 22 2015, @07:47PM
I think you are confusing polyurethane (PUR) with polyvinylchloride (PVC). Most wire, cable, and fiber optic cable use PVC for both insulation and jackets. Water pipes are either PVC or PEX (crosslinked polyethylene). Semi Rigid gas pipe, the kind used in streets in lieu of steel or other metals, is polyethylene.
Polyurethane is used in paints, wheel cushions, tubing for pneumatic systems and foam for insulation, forms, and molds. Cut open a car seat, that foam is polyurethane. Same with mattresses and furniture. I think the foam use case is the biggest problem. It is not very good for wire insulation and is only really used for cable jackets for harsh use. Further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_polyurethane_applications [wikipedia.org]
From the sound of the article, it appears they have extracted the enzyme that breaks PUR down. So if it is the enzyme which will be used to break down PUR, fine. But spreading around a self replicating fungus which destroys plastics is a really dumb idea.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by fritsd on Monday June 22 2015, @04:30PM
That's great news!
Now let's wait 500 years before implementing the idea, so that the currently sequestered carbon in the polyurethane stays under the ground while the CO2 reaches its peak.
(Maybe "garbage dumps" should be added to the Wikipedia article on Carbon sequestration [wikipedia.org])
(Score: 2) by penguinoid on Monday June 22 2015, @06:37PM
Landfills are one of the few places Americans put carbon back underground. Is there any reason we want to put that carbon back into the air?
RIP Slashdot. Killed by greedy bastards.
(Score: 2) by iwoloschin on Monday June 22 2015, @06:45PM
Profit.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by TK on Monday June 22 2015, @09:20PM
Is CO2 a byproduct of fungal growth? Anaerobic means no O2, which I am guessing means no CO2?
I am not a biologist, but my limited understanding is that the fungus will convert carbon in plastics into carbon in fungal cells, which other critters will eat.
Anyone with more than a highschool level of biology want to weigh in? Do we have those here?
The fleas have smaller fleas, upon their backs to bite them, and those fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum
(Score: 2) by Covalent on Monday June 22 2015, @08:09PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Andromeda_Strain [wikipedia.org]
In this book / movie, a space virus eats rubber seals and triggers a nuclear detonation. A bit far fetched, perhaps, but one of the advantages of polyurethane is that it DOESN'T rot. If this thing mutates to tolerate oxygen, that could be, um, bad.
You can't rationally argue somebody out of a position they didn't rationally get into.
(Score: 5, Informative) by TheLink on Monday June 22 2015, @09:12PM
There's a theory that a lot of coal around today is due to the days when fungi didn't digest wood from dead trees and before those types of fungi developed, you got a nice big layer of coal, after, not so much: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/mushroom-evolution-breaks-down-lignin-slows-coal-formation/ [scientificamerican.com]
So are we in the era just before plastic-eating fungi developed enmass? Where we can have plastic lying around for months and not decay?
Look at some trees around you living and dead, and imagine similar stuff happening to the plastics around us that don't have antifungals or countermeasures ( you'd probably want antifungals that are nontoxic to humans).
:).