Research group of the Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, led by Sun Chaoming since 2016
A colony was found on one of the plasticsfungi. The analysis showed that after about four months, exposure to the fungus caused the plastic to shrink, change color, and break into small pieces.
Scientists have created cultivation conditionsdetected fungus that affected its effectiveness. According to the researchers, as a result of the formation of an optimal environment, the rate of decomposition of materials increased: polyurethane plastics were processed within two weeks.
“Our experiments have shown that a new type of fungus is able to decompose about 95% of plastic without harm to the environment,” said Sun Chaoming.
Mankind still handles wasteextremely carelessly, which is why about 14 million metric tons of plastic ends up in the ocean. Previously, Hightek said that scientists consider the mountains of plastic debris visible in the photographs in the ocean to be only the tip of the iceberg. Much of the debris accumulates in huge quantities in the deepest parts of the ocean, such as in sediment on the seabed.
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