--- title: "This “Mutant Enzyme” Can Break Down Plastic Bottles in Hours" description: "Researchers have created a mutant bacterial enzyme that can break down plastic bottles for recycling in only a couple of hours." date: "2020-04-08" modified: "2020-04-08" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/mutant-enzyme-break-down-plastic-bottles" categories: - "Future Society" tags: - "enzyme" - "recycle" - "Recycled Plastic" - "recycling" - "the digest" --- # This “Mutant Enzyme” Can Break Down Plastic Bottles in Hours ![Researchers have created a mutant bacterial enzyme that can break down plastic bottles for recycling in only a couple of hours.]() *\Image: Public Domain Pictures\* ## Mutant Enzymes Researchers working for industrial development company Carbios have created a mutant bacterial enzyme that can break down plastic bottles for recycling in only a couple of hours, [according to *The Guardian*](). The enyzme can break down PET plastic bottles into their individual chemical composites, which could later be reused to make brand new bottles. Conventional recycled plastic that goes through a "thermomechanical" process isn't high enough quality and is mostly used for other products such as clothing and carpets. Carbios partnered with major industry leaders including Pepsi and L'Oreal to help develop the technology. A [scientific paper]() describing the discovery was published in the prestigious journal *Nature* today. ## Forgotten Compost The "PET hydrolase" enzyme can break down 90 percent of PET polymers in just ten hours. "This highly efficient, optimized enzyme outperforms all PET hydrolases reported so far," reads the paper's abstract — even in comparison to the second most promising candidate, a plastic-degrading bacterium strain called [201-F6](). The new enzyme was first spotted in a heap of composted leaves back in 2012. "It had been completely forgotten, but it turned out to be the best,” Alain Marty at the Université de Toulouse, France and the chief science officer at Carbios, told *The Guardian*. ## Cost Benefit The new enyzme was also extremely cost effective to produce. In fact, according to the researchers, making new plastic from oil would have cost 25 times as much. "It’s a real breakthrough in the recycling and manufacturing of PET," said Saleh Jabarin, professor at The University of Toledo, Ohio and a member of Carbios’ Scientific Committee, in [a statement](). The researchers are hoping to test the material's "industrial and commercial potential" in 2021 in France, according to Marty. "Our goal is to be up and running by 2024, 2025, at large industrial scale," deputy chief executive at Carbios Martin Stephan told *The Guardian*. **READ MORE:** [Scientists create mutant enzyme that recycles plastic bottles in hours]() \[*The Guardian*\] **More on recycling:** *[Los Angeles Is Building a Road From Recycled Plastic Bottles]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()