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Plastic-eating bacteria discovered in the ocean
(www.sciencedaily.com)
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this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2026
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Earth, Environment, and Geosciences
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While this is awesome news (if true as stated), I’m afraid it will lead to a cessation of anti-pollution efforts and a return to the old thinking of “nature will handle it.”
What if the opposite happens and "oh shit, all plastic in the world is getting eaten, it's worthless now!"
It happened to cellulose.
That would be so hilarious! The thing you put around shit so it doesn’t spoil? Guess what! IT SPOILS!
What’s going to happen to all the micro plastic in our bodies? And how long before it just eats us too.
They'll just create a new undegradable plastic and then we'll have the plastic pollutn problem all over again. Its an endless loop from which the only way out is an intentional, designed solution.
Oh yeah, it'll definitely become a sort of arms race.
The bacteria release carbon during the decomposition process. So this isn't a "solution" in any meaningful respect. It's an instance of evolution at work, as a surplus resource becomes a food source for innovative organisms.
Also, we look at this as some kind of "clean-up". In reality, this is a threat to one of our most useful durable materials. It'll likely lead to the development of antiseptics to kill these bacteria colonies, as the last thing anyone with a hard plastic shell on their vehicle or appliance or equipment wants is a colony of plastic-eaters deteriorating it.
I dont really follow.
You think people are going to point to this as a reason not decarbon?
Im sure that idiots will, but those people were never going to make any meaningful effort to decarbon anyway.
I am continuously amazed how people keep confusing plastic pollution with carbon pollution. They are not even close!
Settle down mate. Im well aware that plastic pollution is not carbon pollution.
The comment i replied to suggested that solving plastic pollution might discourage people from addressing pollution all together. Plastic and carbon are the most problematic pollutants.