Bacterial consortia based enhanced biofilm mediated synthetic plastic waste treatment

Widespread usage of plastic around the world, a significant global concern, affects the environment by accumulation in the air, water, and soil. Plastic is a major persistent environment pollutant emerging to ecological threat in the form of nanoplastic, microplastic, or as a whole. Based on several studies biodegradation is considered as a sustainable approach to reduce the plastic waste pollution recently. Several microorganisms capable of degrading polymers and degradation might get enhanced in presence of bacterial consortia. This experiment focused on the enhancement of the biofilm formation using two different strains of bacteria primarily identified as Bacilli gram positive and Bacilli gram negative bacteria leading to several extracellular enzyme productions that facilitates the degradation process. Biofilm formation in the degradation of the plastic samples by bacterial strains is well-known. This study explored if the bacterial consortium is more effective for biofilm formation than single strain for the degradation process which shows a positive response. Adhesion of bacteria on plastic surface, colonization and growth was completely monitored under controlled environment. The rapid bacterial colonization on the plastic surface of consortium treated film occurred and efficiency of bacterial consortium for the formation of biofilm is more effective than the single strain treated samples which were observed after 25 days of investigation. After treatment, morphological changes of the plastic samples were observed visually. The microscopic inspections were made to observe the enhancement of biofilm formation on plastic film surface. Bacteria consortia based biodegradation might be an effective path towards sustainable plastic waste management.