Plastic waste can be naturally biodegraded and/or eaten by organisms
Polystyrene
Polystyrene is a light weight material used for floating devices (like lifesavers) and as an insulator (in coffee cups for example). It can degrade to it's components (carbon and water) within decades. All it needs is exposure to natural sunlight.
Here is an article detailing this https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/sunlight-polystyrene-plastics-marine-pollution-microplastics-a9150401.html (https://archive.is/Gu44O).
Note how they apologize for the results:
>‘We’re not saying plastic pollution isn’t bad, just that persistence of polystyrene in the environment may be shorter’
It's like they have to apologize to leftists who want to use plastic waste to control others and make white people feel guilty.
PET (polyethylene terephthalate)
PET is the a common kind of plastic. It's the kind of plastic used to make bottles for drinks (cola, water, etc).
Organisms that break down PET:
Polyethylene
Polyethylene is the most commonly used kind of plastic, mostly used for containers (plastic bags, plastic films, bottles, etc). It can be broken down by the following organisms:
All of the above from the (https://archive.is/IZQu5)
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)
Can be degraded by fungus:
All from (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride#Degradation, https://archive.is/h3N6d). Also it seems that it can easily be broken down by HCl (stomach acid). As it breaks down it generates HCl also, so it seems that it works as a catalyst.
Plastic waste can be naturally biodegraded and/or eaten by organisms
**Polystyrene**
Polystyrene is a light weight material used for floating devices (like lifesavers) and as an insulator (in coffee cups for example). It can degrade to it's components (carbon and water) within decades. All it needs is exposure to natural sunlight.
Here is an article detailing this https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/sunlight-polystyrene-plastics-marine-pollution-microplastics-a9150401.html (https://archive.is/Gu44O).
Note how they apologize for the results:
>>‘We’re not saying plastic pollution isn’t bad, just that persistence of polystyrene in the environment may be shorter’
It's like they have to apologize to leftists who want to use plastic waste to control others and make white people feel guilty.
**PET (polyethylene terephthalate)**
PET is the a common kind of plastic. It's the kind of plastic used to make bottles for drinks (cola, water, etc).
Organisms that break down PET:
- Nocardia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene_terephthalate, https://archive.is/aNZI6)
- Ideonella sakiensis (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ideonella_sakaiensis, https://archive.is/f53f1)
**Polyethylene**
Polyethylene is the most commonly used kind of plastic, mostly used for containers (plastic bags, plastic films, bottles, etc). It can be broken down by the following organisms:
- Pseudomonas fluorescens
- Sphingomonas
- Brevibacillus borstelensis
- Acinetobacter
- Indian mealmoth (aka Plodia interpunctella)
- Galleria mellonella
All of the above from the [wikipedia page](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyethylene#Biodegradability) (https://archive.is/IZQu5)
**Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC)**
Can be degraded by fungus:
- Aspergillus fimgatus
- Phanerochaete crysosporium
- Lentinus tigrinus
- Aspergillus niger
- Aspergillus sydowii
All from (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyvinyl_chloride#Degradation, https://archive.is/h3N6d). Also it seems that it can easily be broken down by HCl (stomach acid). As it breaks down it generates HCl also, so it seems that it works as a catalyst.
(post is archived)