In 2018, scientists have re-engineered an enzyme they call the PETase which can digest some of the most commonly polluting plastics that are made of polyethylene terephthalate or PET.  PET is used to make single-use drinks bottles, clothing, and even carpets. It takes hundreds of years for PET to break down, however, with PETase, it can be shortened to days. The research about this was led by teams at the University of Portsmouth and the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) with their findings published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Just a few years … Continue reading A “Super-Enzyme” that can Digest Plastic Six Times Faster, Discovered by Researchers