Plastic has been a blight the landscape and a deadly threat to wildlife decades. Environmentalists have issued many pleas us to reduce the amount plastic we use or switch to biodegradable alternatives. One solution to this problem may be hand. Scientists have developed a form biodegradable plastic. This means that the billions plastic bags, cups, straws and utensils that we dispose each day could be "compostable" - they could decompose and break as naturally as organic waste. The scientists are the University of California, Berkeley. They say they have invented a plastic that could break down a few weeks, rather than centuries, using just heat and water.
The new, biodegradable product involves embedding polyester-eating enzymes the plastic the production process. When these enzymes are exposed to heat and water, they eat at the plastic and reduce it to lactic acid. This provides nutrients the soil when composted. Professor Ting Xu said to 98 per cent of the plastic her team made degraded small molecules. She said: "We are basically saying that we are the right track. We can solve this continuing problem single-use plastics." She added: "Look at all the wasted stuff we throw - clothing, shoes, electronics cellphones and computers. We are taking things from the earth a faster rate than we can return them."
