Summary Reader Response Draft 4
According to the article “Plastic-eating Enzyme Could Eliminate Billions of Tons of Landfill Waste” (UT News, 2022), scientists from the University of Texas at Austin have discovered a plastic-eating enzyme that could potentially eliminate tons of plastic waste. From the article, the enzyme, Ideonella Sakaiensis has the ability to break down one of the most commonly used plastics, Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET). The discovery of a plastic-eating enzyme was made at a recycling centre in Japan, and it was later improved to make it more effective in decomposing plastic. As more time is put into further development, researchers are optimistic that the enzyme can be used on a wider scale during the industrial recycling process. Although PET is used everywhere around the world, it is not biodegradable and takes beyond a human’s lifespan to break down. In my opinion, global PET recycling efforts should primarily rely on the benefits of plastic-eating enzymes instead of traditional methods to promote a more environmentally sustainable solution for the disposal of plastic, a circular economy through reducing plastic waste sent to landfills, and lastly, the reduction of processing time for recycling.
One of the benefits
of plastic-eating enzymes is their ability to promote a more environmentally
sustainable solution for the disposal of plastic. Plastic-eating enzyme uses a
biological process called “circular process” to break down plastic into smaller
parts and chemically transform them into reusable plastic (Snider, 2022). The process of breaking down plastic
through plastic-eating enzymes is environmentally friendly as it does not
produce any toxic or harmful chemicals that could pollute the environment. On
the other hand, traditional methods such as incineration emit harmful
pollutants into the atmosphere which causes negative impacts on the environment
(Kokkinidis, 2022). Using plastic-eating enzymes helps to reduce plastic
pollution and minimizes the harmful effects on the environment.
Moreover,
plastic-eating enzymes promote a circular economy by reducing plastic waste
sent to landfills. A circular economy is an economic system that aims to keep
resources in use for as long as possible and reuse them without the need of
generating waste or harm to the environment (Worrell, 2023). Since the
plastic-eating enzyme is able to break down plastic into molecules, it gives
the opportunity to produce the same or even higher quality plastic (Marshall,
2022). Utilizing plastic-eating enzymes allows the plastic to be recycled and
reused to its fullest extent. This not only helps to minimize the amount of
plastic waste that ends up in landfills and the environment but also reduces
the need to rely on new raw materials and creates new economic opportunities
for the recycling industry.
Another benefit of
using plastic-eating enzymes is that it reduces the processing time needed for
recycling plastic waste. According to Vetter (2022), the total time required
for waste plastic to be broken down by plastic-eating enzyme is below 24 hours
while the traditional method of recycling could take centuries to do so as it
has many steps and processes that needs to be carried out before the plastic
can be reused. With the help of plastic-eating enzymes, the recycling process
is significantly faster and more efficient.
However, one of the
major drawbacks of using plastic-eating enzymes to reduce plastic waste is that
they often only work under stringent conditions such as specific temperatures,
environments, or even time periods (Muresianu, 2022). Scientists have discovered that there are
limitations to its usage as they are unable to work optimally in low
temperatures and varying pH levels. On top of this, untreated plastic waste can
impact the effectiveness of direct treatment and reaction rates (Lavars, 2022).
This can make it challenging to implement plastic-eating enzymes as it can be
costly and inconvenient at a large industrial scale, particularly when the
conditions required are difficult to create.
In conclusion, the
use of plastic-eating enzymes offers several benefits over traditional methods,
such as promoting a more environmentally sustainable solution when disposing of
plastic, promoting a circular economy by reducing plastic waste sent to
landfills, and reducing the processing time needed for recycling plastic
waste. However, the limitations of plastic-eating enzymes include their
requirement of specific conditions to work effectively, which can make them
difficult to implement on a large scale. Despite this, the potential benefits
of plastic-eating enzymes far outweigh the drawbacks and by relying on
plastic-eating enzymes, the world can reduce its reliance on traditional
recycling and take steps toward a greener future.
References
Kokkinidis, T. (2022,
May. 5). Plastic eating enzyme could help reduce world pollution. GreekReporter. https://greekreporter.com/2022/05/05/plastic-eating-enzyme/
Lavars, N. (2022, April
27). Fast-acting enzyme breaks down plastics in as little as 24 hours.
NewAtlas. https://newatlas.com/environment/fast-acting-enzyme-plastics-24-hours/
Marshall, M. (2022, February
5). How ‘super-enzymes’ that eat plastics could curb our waste problem. TheGuardian.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/05/how-super-enzymes-that-eat-plastics-could-curb-our-waste-problem
Muresianu, T. (2022,
May 28). Why haven’t plastic-eating bacteria fixed the plastic problem yet?. FreeThink. https://www.freethink.com/energy/plastic-eating-bacteria#:~:text=They%20cost%20too%20much.,plastic%20is%20already%20really%20cheap.
Snider, M. (2022,
May. 3). A plastic-eating enzyme could help clean up landfills by breaking
down bottles, containers. USAToday. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2022/05/03/plastic-eating-enzyme-pollution/9633254002/
UT News. (2022, April
27). Plastic-eating Enzyme Could Eliminate Billions of Tons of Landfill
Waste. https://news.utexas.edu/2022/04/27/plastic-eating-enzyme-could-eliminate-billions-of-tons-of-landfill-waste/
Vetter, D. (2022,
Apr. 28). This AI-Designed Enzyme Can Devour Plastic Trash In Hours: Video.
Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2022/04/28/scientists-use-ai-to-make-an-enzyme-that-eats-plastic-trash-in-hours-video/?sh=c9d7a05da6b7
Thank you for this extra work, Jethro.
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