REPORT / INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Source: India Today, Beijing, April, 2017 :- Scientists have identified a soil fungus which uses enzymes to rapidly break down plastic materials, an advance that could help deal with waste problem that threatens our environment. Humans are producing ever greater amounts of plastic ? much of which ends up as garbage. Because plastic does not break down in the same way as other organic materials, it can persist in the environment over extremely long periods of time. Now, researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences have found an unexpected solution to the growing plastic problem in the form of a soil fungus. Attempts to deal with plastic waste through burying, recycling or incineration are variously unsustainable, costly and can result in toxic byproducts which are hazardous to human health. Researchers argue that we urgently need to find new, safer and more effective ways to degrade waste plastics.

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