Norwegian scientists developing new plastic recycling method

(Patria) - Almost one hundred million tons of plastic end up in the natural environment every year.

Only a small portion of plastic can be reused, and recycled plastic is of such poor quality that it is quickly discarded.

- Today, you can recycle in two different ways. You recycle by grinding the plastic and then heating it, and then making new plastic from it again.

Or you can perform chemical recycling. For this, you have to use very toxic chemicals and very high temperatures to melt the plastic - says Prof. Vincent Eijsink from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

In a laboratory in Ås, Norway, researchers are developing a method using natural enzymes that could reduce plastic waste. They use a bacterial enzyme to break down plastic without using chemicals.

Unlike today's recycled plastic, this method should not degrade the quality of the plastic. It would never have to be discarded.

- Bacteria grow and actually break down plastic. They eat plastic. If you mix it together with enzymes in a large reactor, you get a liquid that you can sell back to the industry from which they can make new plastic again - explains Eijsink.

Only eight percent of the world's plastic is in the recycling process. In Norway, the plastic recycling rate is only 22 percent.

The problem is that a large portion of plastic cannot be recycled, and recycling is expensive, inefficient, and harmful to the climate, reports HRT.

Therefore, enzyme-based recycling, Eijsink adds, could represent the future of plastic recycling.