The plastic eaters
The hungry enzymes that might just be the solution to plastic pollution.
Every year the world produces 400 million tonnes of plastic 鈥 the same weight as all the humans on earth.
Only a small proportion of this is recycled, and this isn鈥檛 proper recycling but 鈥渄owncycling鈥 鈥 the new plastic is of a lower quality, meaning that almost all plastic eventually goes to waste.
But now French company Carbios is using enzymes to break plastic down into its chemical building blocks 鈥 which can then be used to make high quality plastic again.
So is plastic on the brink of becoming a resource like glass or aluminium, that you can keep on moulding and recycling again and again?
Presenter: Myra Anubi
Reporter/producer: William Kremer
Series producer: Jon Bithrey
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Penny Murphy
email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk
Image: Carbios scientist holds pieces of plastic, 大象传媒
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- Tue 28 Nov 2023 08:06GMT大象传媒 World Service
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