The way we’ve produced and discarded plastic so freely has lead to the evolution of plastic eating enzymes. Bugs across globe are evolving to eat plastic a recent study found out.

We’ve seen surprising discoveries showing the huge scale of plastic pollution. But is it really a surprise? Anyway, these same pieces have also revealed enzymes that could boost recycling have started growing of their own accord.

Microplastics Research

This research took a look at more than 200 million genes to see what was going on. The study by Jan Zrimec, Mariia Kokina, Sara Jonasson, Francisco Zorrilla and Aleksej Zelezniak found in DNA samples it took from the environment there were 30,000 different enzymes that could degrade about 10 different types of plastic. So impressive.

This is kind of good news. Not the amount of plastic we have, but that nature is evolving to combat the damage we’re doing to our planet. Even if we screw our planet up, life will continue on without us.

Airborne Microplastics

That brings us handily on to the increasing amount of airborne microplastic pollution currently spiralling around the globe on the currents of the wind.

Microplastics are so small they can even float in the air like the plastic bags you have probably seen floating above you from time to time.The study found that microplastic pollution raises questions about how much plastics are going to impact on human health over the rest of the century ahead.

Global Plastic Cycle

Our pollution has led to what can be labelled as a global plastic cycle, which can in turn be compared to natural processes like the carbon cycle, as plastic moves through the atmosphere, oceans and land. The result is the “plastification” of our planet and the need for school science textbooks to be written and include this new human-made phenomenon.

We can all start working towards a planet with less waste from the top down. Let’s do it!