Scientists discovered that bacteria commonly found in wastewater can break down plastic to turn it into a food source, a finding that researchers hope could be a promising answer to combat one of ...

But, with a plastic-eating bacteria in our back pocket, scientists could devise ways to help improve the current sorry rate of plastic recycling. If you thought that plastic recycling was a lot ...

Here’s why plastic-eating bacteria aren’t the silver bullet that most headlines seem to suggest they are. Rehman Asad/Getty Images Off the rails on a crazy strain.

In a world increasingly choked by plastic waste, a glimmer of hope emerges from an unexpected corner of nature: ...

In a landfill, a plastic bottle can take more than a thousand years to break down. But a new process can transform polyethylene plastic in days, using bacteria to eat the waste and then turn it ...

Plastic is a popular material because it is cheap and versatile. We produce around 450 million tonnes of it each year, but this has a deleterious impact on the environment because it’s mostly ...

Plastic waste leaches dissolved organic matter (DOM) into rivers, lakes, and oceans. This DOM, in turn, likely affects the feeding habits and growth of bacteria that inhabit those waters. “Few ...

Scientists discover plastic-eating fungi that could help clean up world’s oceans. Bacteria and fungi are evolving to eat plastic but their impact will likely be limited to specific applications ...

Eating plastic, it’s fantastic! Scientists might have found an unlikely solution to the trash problem choking our planet — a plastic-eating insect, which was described in the journal Nature ...

A bacteria commonly found in wastewater can break down plastic to turn it into a food source, a new study finds. Scientists hope it is a pollution solution.