Ideas worth spreading

These bacteria eat plastic

2,389,198 views |

Morgan Vague |

TEDxMtHood

• October 2018

Humans produce 300 million tons of new plastic each year -- yet, despite our best efforts, less than 10 percent of it ends up being recycled. Is there a better way to deal with all this waste? Morgan Vague describes her research with microbiologist Jay Mellies on bacteria that have evolved the unexpected ability to eat plastic -- and how they could help us solve our growing pollution problem.

Humans produce 300 million tons of new plastic each year -- yet, despite our best efforts, less than 10 percent of it ends up being recycled. Is there a better way to deal with all this waste? Morgan Vague describes her research with microbiologist Jay Mellies on bacteria that have evolved the unexpected ability to eat plastic -- and how they could help us solve our growing pollution problem.

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMtHood, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Learn more about the research on PET plastic degradation, conducted by Dr. Jay Mellies at Reed College.

About the speaker

Morgan Vague

Senior researcher assistant

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Bacteria, bugs, germs -- Morgan Vague loves to get in the dirt (literally) to explore solutions to pressing problems.

National Geographic | Explore

"Planet or Plastic?"

"Planet or Plastic?" is National Geographic’s multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic trash crisis. Come to this page often to learn more, find out what you can do to reduce your own single-use plastics and take your pledge.

Shosuke Yoshida, et al. | Science, 2016 | Article

"A bacterium that degrades and assimilates poly(ethylene terephthalate)"

After reading about the sheer scope of plastic waste on the planet and learning that only an estimated 9-10 percent of all plastic waste is recycled, I wanted to do something. I took Dr. Jay Mellies's microbiology class and realized that bacteria could do some incredible metabolic gymnastics, which made me wonder whether bacteria could indeed degrade a complex, inert material like plastic. I researched the topic and found several papers showing that this was indeed possible. This paper by Yoshida et al., and the below paper by Yang et al., were my main inspirations and guides for this project, as they provide detailed experimental outlines, potential metabolic pathways and evidence that bacteria from polluted or plastic-inundated environments could indeed degrade plastic.

Yang J., et al. | Science, 2014 | Article

"Evidence of polyethylene biodegradation by bacterial strains from the guts of plastic-eating waxworms"

This paper was another inspiration for this project.

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Consider looking into companies such as 4Ocean that use reclaimed plastic to sell bracelets that raise awareness of and funds to combat plastic pollution.

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Also consider looking into Ubuntoo, an organization that highlights companies working to create products to promote plastic sustainability projects and reclaimed plastic products.

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This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxMtHood, an independent event. TED's editors chose to feature it for you.

Read more about TEDx.

Learn more about the research on PET plastic degradation, conducted by Dr. Jay Mellies at Reed College.