This New Plastic Disappears When You Don't Need It Anymore

[Warpy]

Our reliance on plastic has become a huge problem, which is why researchers are excited about a new type of material – one that comes with built-in biodegrading capabilities, due to the bacterial spores living inside it.

The new self-digesting plastic combines thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and Bacillus subtilis bacteria, which had to be engineered to survive the high temperatures involved in plastic production.

By repeatedly exposing the spores to increasing levels of heat, the team of researchers behind this new work found that the bacteria could eventually cope with the temperatures of 135 degrees Celsius (275 degrees Fahrenheit) required to mix the bacterial spores and TPU together.

https://www.sciencealert.com/this-new-plastic-disappears-when-you-dont-need-it-anymore

Note to marketing: call it biodegradable but don't mention the bacterial spores that will develop into bacteria and chow down on it. Nobody will buy anything that has their food coming into contact with GERMS.

[Think. Again.]

1. Great news...

For some reason, the biodegradable plastic substitute made from corn didn't catch on, I certainly hope this new stuff will be able to replace petrochemical plastics though.

[hlthe2b]

2. Yeah.. like irradiation for meat and produce (which does NOT render radioactive) and could have

made a tremendous impact in reducing food-borne diseases. Plenty advocated for terming it "cold sterilization" or "cold pasteurization" --which had a conceivable chance to build a truthful but noninflammatory education campaign around it for the public. But, no... So, instead, Listeria and Salmonella-contaminated produce and potentially fatal E. coli 0157:H7 contaminated meat continue to appear as little time bombs in our food network.

[Arne]

3. The plastic panels and buttons in my car have already disintegrated.

[intrepidity]

4. I mean, what could go wrong?

Deliberately engineering a bacterium to survive high temperatures, then mixing it into an environment (garbage dumps) teeming with all manner of microorganisms who quite readily exchange their genetic materials....I mean, I certainly don't see an issue here....

No doubt, though, there are multiple fail-safes built into the system that will preclude any "unforeseen consequences" right?

[Warpy]

5. The bug itself is not a thermophile

It's a spore forming bacteria, which means its inert state can withstand the temperatures needed to mold plastic. It won't survive temperatures much higher than that.

It is not a pathogen. It has been engineered to chow down on plastic.

When it finishes withe the plastic its spores were in, it will likely look for non biodegradable plastics.

What could go wrong? Landfills heavy with plastic waste could become the next fossil fuel deposits for whatever we turn into after the next Ice Age. Men will hoard and fight wars over it. That's what could go wrong.