2024-11-23
tags: none
Words: 272 (1 minutes to read)
(This is entry 43 of #100DaysToOffload)
There are bacteria that can break down PET plastic. So, what would the future of plastic be?
I think we'll end up using Ideonella sakaiensis, or a modified form of it, to break down plastic. But really, what I think is likely to happen is that this bacteria will get out. We'll end up in a situation where this bacteria gets into general existence, and we will have PETase being found on just random bottles. Industry will of course try to exterminate it, but it will develop a resistance to the tools used; compare for instance how our factory farming creates huge bacterial issues, and struggles to control it. We'll create strains of bacteria that can break down PET (and other plastics), and are resistant to our techniques to try exterminate it. We'll have plastic being broken down naturally, and will no longer think of it as a non-biodegradable product. People will just be used to the idea that you don't want to use plastic for bottles, because plastic naturally degrades - same reason you don't want to use paper!
This might become a public health nightmare: both terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol are harmful in some way, causing irritation or being harmful if consumed. I wonder if future humans will be more resistant to these chemicals, though that will take some time. Or, we will develop some kind of pill to manage the damage of these chemicals. Hopefully the bacteria use all of the TPA and EG for its own purposes, or at least we'll find other bacteria that use any excess. Nature always finds a way.
I'm interested to see how it turns out!