Plastic Bags Decomposed in Just 3 Months
- Posted by Alex Ion in Science
May 26,2008
image by WYGD
Daniel Burd is an 11th grader from Canada, that wants to turn his school science project into a dream come true. The guy is certain that if a plastic bag takes 1,000 years to decompose it’s because of the microorganisms behind it, and Burd thinks he has a method that will cause them to decompose in just three months.
The young scientist searched for those “guilty” of decomposing plastic bags and found two strains of bacteria that work together; the primary bacteria is Sphingomonas while the other one is Pseudomonas. Creating an industrial solution for plastic bags that would only last for three month is extremely simple. “All you need is a fermenter . . . your growth medium, your microbes and your plastic bags,” Burd said.
Though it doesn’t solve the pollution in the Pacific, this guy’s idea is a simple enough that it might just work well enough to change the world (at least a bit). He deserves congratulations and some money to continue his research and make it a real solution, instead of a project.
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Source: The Record
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18 Responses to “Plastic Bags Decomposed in Just 3 Months”
it may be useful, but to date species introductions have proven to be dangerous for biodiversity if allowed to go unchecked (Australia!)
i’d be interested to see what kind of environment this would be done in and the impact it would have on the natural (bacterial/bugs) flora
Really interesting! I never thought that plastic bags will decompose in only 3 months!
Plastic bags are a menace and should be replaced with biodegradable bags made of hemp grown on the prairies in Northern Canada which is currently wasted scrub brush. Oil can be extracted from the seeds as a bonus. The reason hemp was banned was some plant varieties produced THC, and was hard to differentiate or detect in the 1930s. Nowadays a simple, inexpensive lab test will do the trick, but we are still stuck with the old laws. We need the oil, we need the fibers to produce paper and a myriad of other products. We need action on this issue!
Just finding ways to break down plastic is not the solution. Neither is creating other disposable bags from other materials – we simply can not keep producing more waste! See my post today on eliminating plastic from day to day use – http://red-cedar.ca/?p=1219 .
For some reason, I can’t help thinking that these microbe things would morph into some kind of plague that would wipe out humanity. Quite frankly, that would suck.
Whatever happened to recycling?
Did anyone bother to read the original article? The kid is 16. He’s trying to make a difference!! That should be the moral of the story.
I for one would like to say congratulations Daniel. Great job!! The world needs more people like you.
Uncle B, You need to learn more about Canada. Northern Canada is a mix of dense forest, small lake systems, marshes, and tundra. The Prairies lay in the South Central/Western regions, along with many river valleys. These are used already for agriculture, grazing lands, and energy production. Much of these regions are protected as the varied environments are important ecosystems.
We need to focus (as others have said) on the good old 3 R’s of Reducing our consumption, Reusing what we have, and Recycling what we can. This idea can help us process a lot of the waste we already have.
I think it’s a great idea! Recycling uses energy and creates its own waste.
Reducing is important, but we will never completely stop producing waste.
Microbial breakdown is nature’s method of waste disposal. Although it’s important to analyze what the breakdown products are, I think this is a step in the right direction.
Chris- there are already so many microbe things around you, in you, on you etc… a few more in your trash bag is not gonna make a difference.
mj, don’t be stupid. they wouldn’t FREE the bacteria into the ocean – that’s dumb. they’d breed them in captivity and use them to digest plastic bags – not release them into the planet.
geez, i hate net stupidity – think out your answers before you write them.
I agree with mj. Even if the boy is ONLY 16, he needs to do his research. Unfortunately, plants and bugs have been brought into this country without any research being done. Kudzu, anyone??
how does one commercialize it
Hmm, interesting idea for sure. If there was a way to create a self-contained bag degrading system that you could sell at home depot, I’m sure people would buy that. I know I probably would.
Sorta like a compost perhaps, but not.
The microbes that do this are already “free”. They just aren’t overly abundant. Also lets not forget that we’re surrounded by an endless garbage dump called the Universe. It won’t even smell bad in space either!
Interesting… I hope it really does end up working, though! It could solve a lot of problems. (And even if the original theory were to have some flaws in it, it’s pretty skilled and insightful for a high school kid. It’s not like he won’t have time to work out the kinks, right?)
I worked at an Organic store in Edmonton, Alberta, called Planet Organic.. all of their plastic bags were decomposable. It is possible!
I feel that this is a brilliant idea. Since these bacteria produce just 0.01% of CO2, when produced on larger scale, this greenhouse gas can also be used as Carbonic Acid for industrial purposes after passing it through water.
I think more scientific people should look forward to use this method on large scale by setting up plants.
Burd is a GENIUS! Einstein would have been proud of you!
how do they decompose so fast
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