Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low temperatures

Re:Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low tempe... by parasti on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @05:32AM (#35885375)

This is the start of a sci-fi book I read many years ago, but I can't remember the name of it.

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Re:Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low tempe... by lasercat on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @07:09AM (#35885844)

Ill Wind by Kevin J. Anderson?

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Re:Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low tempe... by rasz on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @10:19AM (#35887748)

"...et in pulverem reverteri", a short story by Janusz Zajdel (up there with Lem of Solaris fame) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janusz_Zajdel

TLDR: Someone invents catalyst able to encode any material with programmable expiry date. Every country adopts it to ensure steady employment across planet. Pants? 3 months and revert back to dust, wrist watch? 1 year, car? 2 years, etc.

Can only find Polish copy https://web.archive.org/web/20170722210628/http://zajdel.dza... google translate doesnt like this particular web.archive link so you would have to manually copy text to translate

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Re:Microbes discovered that can digest plastics at low tempe... by RecycledEle on Wednesday May 10, 2023 @04:41PM (#35893189)

Was this how Ring World fell?

A recycling bacteria got out of control and ate the infrastructure and the machines.

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