A group of engineers and scientists at The University of Texas
at Austin discovered a modified enzyme called FAST-PETase and tested it over 51
different types of plastic containers (UT NEWS, 2022). It allows plastics
recycling process at the molecular level by breaking down the consumed plastic
molecule into small parts to reform then reuse again in just short hours to
days. (Nature, 2022).
The project mainly focuses on polyethylene terephthalate
(PET), a significant polymer found in most consumer packaging (Nature, 2022)
which makes up 12% of all global waste and doesn’t degrade over centuries. Through the research and machine learning
model, the demonstration results reveal a huge improvement after 15 years of
research on enzymes for plastic recycling. FAST-PETase ables to degrade the
consumed plastics at low ambient temperature which exciting the research teams
aiming for cleaning up landfills and greening high waste-producing industries
at soon and near future.
Compared to traditional ways to cut down on plastics waste
such as burning, landfill, or alternative industrial processes which are
generally not environmentally friendly yet at a high cost, the biological
solutions proven take less energy, more affordable and efficient at large
industrial scale use. However, my opinion is, the best cure to treat plastic
pollution is always from prevention and less use in plastic but not only through
the huge efforts to eliminate the used plastic waste.
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