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We are just getting started’: the plastic-eating bacteria that could change the world (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 1 year ago by Bebo@literature.cafe to c/science@lemmy.ml

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When a microbe was found munching on a plastic bottle in a rubbish dump, it promised a recycling revolution. Now scientists are attempting to turbocharge those powers in a bid to solve our waste crisis. But will it work?

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[–] Skua@kbin.social 78 points 1 year ago (2 children)

We do probably want both. Even if we end plastic production completely tomorrow, we need to work out a way to clean up all the plastic we've already dumped all over the world

[–] TropicalDingdong@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

yeah but one of them we can do right now with minimum consequences and the other is provocative with no clear path to viability and no real understanding of the consequences.

We should prob just leave any existing plastic as plastic wherever it lay instead of turning it into CO2. Burying it is a better idea than emitting it.

[–] trilobite@lemdro.id 1 points 1 year ago

I agree. We want both. Its like water consumption needs which keep increasing. We want to reduce demand and increase leakage reduction rather than take more water out of the environment. We're making a mess of this planet because our lives are based on the assumption of eternal growth.