E. Coli Key Ingredient in First Biodegradable Plastic

The debate on how to recycle plastic has been going on for years. Many manufactures have done amazing jobs to ensure that their plastic is reused. Companies make and sell products that uses several trillions of plastic bi-product. This has made it nearly impossible to recycle all of the plastic. Believe it or not, there is nearly 350 billion tons of plastic that does not end up recycled and ends up in landfills.

Metabolix is a company that has been working on a biodegradable project for several years. They have kept their findings and tests secret until earlier this past year. Metabolix announced that it has created the first biodegradable plastic. The plastic is going to be called Mirel. It will be just as strong and versatile as common petroleum-based polymers. The best thing is that the plastic will be able to break down in soil, compost, wetlands, or even oceans. This could end the massive problem as to what to do with the growing amount of plastic and how it could eventually hurt the earth.

The Metabolix company has incorporated several techniques to make the plastic. They found that the only way to make it biodegradable at this time is by using E. coli. The E. coli microbes have been genetically engineered in order to eat corn sugar and turn it into polyester granules. Metabolix then extracts and forms it into moldeable pellets. The moldeable pellets are what we use in creating plastic products. This includes anything from our computers, television sets, to the plastic bottles we consume our daily beverages out of.

This has been a long project in the making. Advocates have spoken out loud against the growing amount of plastic. With all the enhancements to technology, they were wondering why it was taking so long to make any further enhancements. Those questions were answered when Metabolix decided to step to the plate. They have entered into a partnership that has made all their advancements possible.