Comments on: Scientific breakthrough decomposes plastic bags in 3 months!

By: Colocasia

Colocasia — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 04:41:46 +0000

More than 1.6 billion barrels of oil go into plastic bags per year? Wow. Wired magazine recently listed the global reserve of oil as 1,317.4 billion barrels (Source: Oil and Gas Journal). That means over 0.1% of the world\’s remaining oil supply is exhausted each year producing plastic bags. (Or perhaps it\’s 1.6 million barrels per year?) I\’ve been dutifully saving my bags; sequestered quite a cache. Will take them back to the grocery store to be recycled (they have to be recycled separately from other plastics), and start looking for a reusable bag alternative.
Munching on plastic, as with any other carbon source, the bacteria will generate CO2 as a byproduct. Perhaps the CO2 could be vented off to feed a culture of biofuel-producing algae!

By: Mike Benton

Mike Benton — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:47:14 +0000

That\\\’s great but I\\\’d like to know the by product. What waste does the bacteria give off during this process? Can we can it and use the waste product for something else?

By: sesshudesigner

sesshudesigner — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:04:40 +0000

I think this is exciting news – but I, too, am worried about the possible long-term problems with letting massive amounts of micro-organisms loose (maybe I’ve been watching too many sci-fi horror movies, but the threat is there). It’s great to see someone working on the problem though – let’s hope someone takes it to the next step.

By: Bijou

Bijou — Thu, 29 May 2008 01:19:58 +0000

Do these bacteria have a limited life? Could they continue to seek, or mistakenly find, beneficial polyethylene products. Could they also breakdown oil in its useful state? Please report on any detrimental after efffects we have all seen come to fruition with what might be seen as an “easy” answer.

By: ebartz

ebartz — Wed, 28 May 2008 16:20:44 +0000

Wow, this is exciting! A 16 year old did this?! But I wonder where the money is in this – what’s the business proposition for decomposing plastic bags?

By: Jennae

Jennae — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:37:30 +0000

He is quite the prodigy, isn’t he? This is absolutely wonderful. I just hope that governments around the world take notice and do what needs to be done to implement this on a large scale.

By: mikeyb66

mikeyb66 — Wed, 28 May 2008 11:53:27 +0000

This is really great news although I fear this means people will take their eye off the problem. Lets hope that legislation is still introduced to reduce the production and use of plastic bags and that this new breakthrough is only used to clean up the planet. I hope that people don’t think that it is ok to throw bags away again.