Japanese team embeds enzymes to destroy ocean plastics
Japanese researchers embedded enzymes into plastics to make them break down quickly in ocean waters.
Compostable plastics usually require specific heat and humidity to decompose properly within industrial facilities effectively today. These materials often persist for decades when they accidentally enter cold ocean environments instead of compost bins.
Scientists melted four types of plastic and added tiny amounts of freeze-dried enzymes before shaping them into films. They placed sealed samples at depths ranging from two meters to over five thousand meters off Tokyo coast.
Films containing 3% cutinase nearly disappeared within five months while microbeads formed visible cracks in just two weeks. Enzyme-free samples barely degraded even though some plastics lost significant mass under these specific marine conditions.
The method works across diverse marine environments without compromising mechanical properties of the material significantly for future use. Researchers report these findings in the journal Nature after monitoring samples over periods ranging from one to eighteen months.