Millions of tons of plastic waste ends up in the world's oceans every year, posing a major environmental problem as it takes decades to degrade but scientists in Germany have found a glimmer of hope by identifying a fungi that can 'eat' plastic. An analysis at Lake Stechlin in northeastern Germany into how microfungi grow on some plastics with no other carbon source to feed on has demonstrated some of them are capable of degrading synthetic polymers, said the team-leader. Of 18 selected fungal strains, four proved to be particularly 'hungry' which means they could efficiently utilize plastics, especially polyurethane which is used to make construction foam. Polyethylene, used in plastic bags and packaging material, was much slower to degrade and microplastics from tire abrasion was the most difficult, largely because of additives like heavy metals.
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