The plastic eaters
The hungry enzymes that might just be the solution to plastic pollution.
Every year the world produces 400 million tonnes of plastic β the same weight as all the humans on earth.
Only a small proportion of this is recycled, and this isnβt proper recycling but βdowncyclingβ β the new plastic is of a lower quality, meaning that almost all plastic eventually goes to waste.
But now French company Carbios is using enzymes to break plastic down into its chemical building blocks β which can then be used to make high quality plastic again.
So is plastic on the brink of becoming a resource like glass or aluminium, that you can keep on moulding and recycling again and again?
Presenter: Myra Anubi
Reporter/producer: William Kremer
Series producer: Jon Bithrey
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Penny Murphy
email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk
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People Fixing the World
Brilliant solutions to the worldβs problems