Potency of Indigenous Microbes of Piyungan Landfill Yogyakarta for Microplastic Biodegradation

Research on the bacteria and fungi potentially degrading microplastic in Piyungan Landfill has not been done much. Meanwhile, plastic pollution is one of many environmental problems faced in the Special Region of Yogyakarta. The accumulation of plastic waste is getting more significant daily, and the capacity of landfills is decreasing. Bacterial and fungal testing was carried out by taking soil samples from landfills and isolating dilute Nutrient Broth, Malt Extract Agar, and Nutrient Agar media. Bacterial and fungal were identified by morphology colony and cell, then tested for plastic biodegradation by selected bacterial and fungal. The result of this research, there are 18 bacterial isolate and five isolate fungi, but for the degradation testing, chosen just three bacterial (Isolate A, F, J) degrade Polypropylene for ±30 days and three fungal (Isolate PA, PK, RJ) to degrade LDPE for ±14 days. The indicator for determining plastic degradation is clear-zone formation. The test result showed that isolate F, which had similarity with bacteria in the genus of Micrococcus, had a higher potential to degrade microplastic with clear-zone formation ±1.23 mm. Meanwhile, fungal isolate PK, similar to Penicillium sp., had a higher potential to degrade microplastic, marked by the most significant clear-zone appearance, ±2.3 cm.