An enzyme that will decompose nearly 1 ton of PET bottles in 10 hours and enable recycling will be developed

An enzyme has been developed that can degrade polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is used for materials such as PET bottles and clothing, overwhelmingly in a short time. Unlike PET-degrading enzymes that have been discovered so far, they can be applied to recycling.

A study published in 2019 estimates that between 359 million tonnes of plastic produced annually worldwide, 150 million to 200 million tonnes are accumulating in landfills or the natural environment It has been. Among them, about 70 million tons of PET are produced annually around the world, but since they hardly decompose naturally, there is an environmental problem such as residual PET bottles and other garbage affecting the ecosystem.