Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by AlexandrB on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @03:20PM (#31496414)

The obvious side effect I can see is that plastic will no longer be super-durable and plastic goods used outside may now start to "rot". It's an interesting problem we're creating for ourselves by failing to properly dispose of our trash.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by robonerd on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @03:32PM (#31496561)

> The obvious side effect I can see is that plastic will no longer be super-durable and plastic goods used outside may now start to "rot".

When left outside, most plastic goods degrade after a few years of solar UV exposure. Not well enough to remove the plastic from the environment, but sufficiently degraded that it breaks and is no longer fit for purpose. Like an old plastic lawn chair that becomes brittle and eventually shatters when you sit on it.

Indoors things are different. But indoors, wood furniture and whatnot can last hundreds of years.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by hosh on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @04:04PM (#31496929)

A different perspective is that rotting is the ecology's natural function for returning material back into the ecology for new life and new growth. We have suspended that process, so now the ecology is adapting to it.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by ars on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @03:31PM (#31496544)

If it happens it's easily enough solved by using PVC instead. And interestingly most outdoor plastic, that's intended to last, is already PVC.

Regular non-chlorinated plastic doesn't last very long in sunlight, so it's already not used outdoors.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by beambot on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @03:24PM (#31496466)

How would you dispose of trash in a way that doesn't somehow expose it to microorganisms?

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by surfpel on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @03:33PM (#31496571)

It doesn’t need to not be exposed to microbes at all, but rather just not reach a critical mass / density to become a viable and readily available food source.

Recycling and incineration come to mind, albeit impractical and environmentally harmful.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by orblivion on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @04:21PM (#31497115)

Well, maybe we could have "rotting" plastic for stuff we dispose of anyway, and "durable" plastic engineered around these microbes that we use for stuff we want to keep around.

Or, maybe by then we could just rebuild whatever is rotting with our home 3d printer.

[ Parent | on HN ]