Scientists have found microbes in the Alps and the Arctic that can digest plastic at temperatures as low as 15°C.

This will allow us to take a new step in waste recycling. Microorganisms that feed on plastic are already known, but usually they only work at temperatures above 30°C. Because of this, they are too expensive to use on an industrial scale. To find new microbes, the scientists took samples of 19 strains of bacteria and 15 fungi that had grown on plastic that had lain in the ground for one year in Greenland, Svalbard and Switzerland. The results showed that the microorganisms are able to process polyethylene and polyester-polyurethane, as well as some other types of plastic.