Plastic-eating fungus found in Pakistan

A plastic-eating fungus has been recently discovered by researchers and that too in a garbage site in Pakistan.

The fungus, ‘Aspergillus tubingensis’, was found by researchers of Chinese Academy of Sciences. The fungus was found on a rubbish dump in the capital city of Pakistan: Islamabad. The study was conducted by researchers from various institutes in China and Pakistan.

This new discovery is likely to help us with the issues of non-biodegradable plastics and their threatening impact on environment. The plastic that would take years to break down can now be broken down within weeks through the fungus.

The lead author Sehroon Khan expressed, “We wanted to identify solutions which already existed in nature, but finding microorganisms which can do the job isn’t easy.”

The samples taken from the dump in Islamabad were “to see if anything was feeding on the plastic in the same way that other organisms feed on dead plant or animal matter,” said Sehroon.

The fungus gives out enzymes on the plastic surface that split the chemical bonds between the plastic molecules or polymers, informed The Hindu.

Though the fungus is usually present in soil, it can also survive on plastic surfaces, reported the study. According to World Economic Forum, the fungus can deal with problems of those tiny plastic particles that are found in our water by putting it in work in water treatment plants or maybe in a soil that is polluted with that material.

Conditions such as pH levels and temperature can probably affect how well the fungus degrades the plastic. For future, the researchers aim to look for situations that are ideal for facilitating a practical implementation.