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Screening, identification, and characterisation of bacteria in landfill leachate for polypropylene microplastic biodegradation
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Scientists found a bacteria strain living in landfill waste that can actually "eat" and break down polypropylene, one of the most common plastics used in food packaging, bottle caps, and textiles, reducing it by about 16% in just a month. This matters because microplastics are increasingly showing up in our food, water, and even our bodies, and this discovery suggests nature may already hold tools to help clean up plastic pollution before it breaks down into the tiny particles we end up ingesting.
Plastic contamination is a serious concern for the environment, especially when it comes to microplastics. The biodegradation capability of bacterial strains isolated from landfill leachate against polypropylene microplastics (PPMPs) is examined in this study. A bacterial strain identified as Staphylococcus hominis with 99.77% sequence identity via 16S rRNA gene sequencing showed promising degrading capabilities. Over a 30-day incubation period at 37°C and 150 rpm, S. hominis reduced the weight of PPMPs from 995.2 mg to 833.5 ± 13.85 mg, suggesting a 16.25% degradation. Detailed examinations using bacterial growth tests, Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) show significant surface and chemical alterations in the PPMPs, confirming the degradation capability of the bacteria. The bacteria utilised carbon as an energy source, as indicated by the decrease in the percentage weight of molecular carbon from 98% to 78.5%. These findings promote the development of sustainable biological approaches to tackling plastics pollution and show the potential role of bacteria found in landfills, such as S. hominis, in the sustainable bioremediation of microplastic contamination.
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Researchers examine how microorganisms degrade common microplastic polymers including polyethylene, polypropylene, PVC, and PET, reviewing the enzymatic and metabolic pathways bacteria and fungi use to break down these persistent materials and the potential for harnessing microbial activity as a biodegradation strategy.
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Researchers isolated bacterial consortia from plastic waste collected at three Jakarta Bay sites and tested their ability to degrade polypropylene microplastics over 60 days, finding up to 6.6% degradation with FTIR and SEM analyses confirming chemical and structural damage to the plastic surface.
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Microbial biodegradation offers a promising approach to breaking down the growing tide of macroplastic waste entering ocean environments, with certain microorganisms capable of enzymatically depolymerizing synthetic polymers. Understanding and harnessing these microbial pathways is critical for reducing the downstream fragmentation of plastics into microplastics that contaminate marine food webs.
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