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Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

phys.org

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Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#81

Post by lispisok »

unglaublich wrote: post #51
testfoobar wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The underlying cause of climate change, air pollution and waterways full of plastic waste is the Tragedy of the Commons. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/climate-ch... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tragedy_of_the_commons

Yep. We should have forced mining and oil companies to pay opportunity costs to our future self whenever they extract finite resources from the planet.

Are you not guilty for all the times you filled up your petrol powered car spewed all that carbon and air pollution into the air?

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#82

Post by RajT88 »

passwordoops wrote: post #47

Plastic eating enzymes have been a thing since the 90s. There's a breathless headline every 3-6 months. None get out of the lab

Less frequently we get articles about mealworms evolving the ability to eat plastics.

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#83

Post by okl »

CptFribble wrote: post #64

Another story about waste "solutions," another opportunity to remind the gentle readers about plasma gasification. A re-post of an earlier comment of mine on the topic follows: --- Why are we still not talking about plasma gasification? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification As far as I can tell, the only real "disadvantages" if you can call them that, are: 1. more expensive than throwing the garbage in a…

Recent article suggests it can be "free" when selling the graphene, hydrogen: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.202306763

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#84

Post by cma »

flavius29663 wrote: post #73
CptFribble wrote: post #64

Another story about waste "solutions," another opportunity to remind the gentle readers about plasma gasification. A re-post of an earlier comment of mine on the topic follows: --- Why are we still not talking about plasma gasification? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification As far as I can tell, the only real "disadvantages" if you can call them that, are: 1. more expensive than throwing the garbage in a…

I was always thinking, could we combine incineration + plasma gasification? What if we burn the garbage, which results in a lot of heat + clean + noxious gases, and then we just pass the gases through plasma? That should take care of anything that is dangerous in the emissions, but also make it more efficient, because a lot of the mass has already burned, plasma doesn't have to go through that much material anymore

Isn't there more mass after burning, from the added oxygen?

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#85

Post by jquery »

kragen wrote: post #70
zackmorris wrote: post #50

I'd like to know who originally put incompatible types of plastic under the same number, which contaminates recycling runs. Like PET/PETE under "1" and injection-molded/blow-molded HDPE under "2": https://www.warwickri.gov/sanitation-recycling/faq/why-cant-... Many cities have banned recycling the most commonly used plastics, like plastic water bottles made of 1 (PET). Where I live, 1 and 2 get recycled, 3 (PVC) gets…

pete isn't a different kind of plastic from pet, it's just a usa-only abbreviation to avoid the non-plastic-related pet trademark the pet company uses on their disposable drinking vessels made from whatever material the broader point is valid that recycling even hdpe is difficult because of the diversity of fillers and other additives, not to mention variation in molecular weight even before scission by ultraviolet,…

>if you hold industry liable for damage done by people improperly discarding its products, soon you will have no industry

I don't see how this follows. It might make plastics more expensive... but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#86

Post by wcoenen »

dejj wrote: post #15
mrob wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We already make many things from materials that can be degraded by microbes (wood, cotton, leather, etc.). They can be preserved by keeping them dry, or with paint or other surface treatments. For the rare circumstances where this is impossible (e.g. medical devices) we have fluoropolymers, which I'm confident aren't going to get degraded by microbes any time soon.

A long time ago, wood (Lignin) wasn’t biodegradable. Trees just piled up instead of rotting. That resulted in oil deposits. These we turn into plastics. Bacteria acquiring genes to feed on plastics would lead to closing the circle again. Although supply will be cut short when humanity gives up producing plastics.

> Trees just piled up instead of rotting. That resulted in oil deposits.

That resulted in coal deposits of the Carboniferous. Not oil.

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#87

Post by grayfaced »

kragen wrote: post #70
zackmorris wrote: post #50

I'd like to know who originally put incompatible types of plastic under the same number, which contaminates recycling runs. Like PET/PETE under "1" and injection-molded/blow-molded HDPE under "2": https://www.warwickri.gov/sanitation-recycling/faq/why-cant-... Many cities have banned recycling the most commonly used plastics, like plastic water bottles made of 1 (PET). Where I live, 1 and 2 get recycled, 3 (PVC) gets…

pete isn't a different kind of plastic from pet, it's just a usa-only abbreviation to avoid the non-plastic-related pet trademark the pet company uses on their disposable drinking vessels made from whatever material the broader point is valid that recycling even hdpe is difficult because of the diversity of fillers and other additives, not to mention variation in molecular weight even before scission by ultraviolet,…

> if you hold industry liable for damage done by people improperly discarding its products, soon you will have no industry

If it's predominantly being misused, then they do have a moral obligation. They control the packaging, and they know how much of it will end up improperly discarded. And by moral obligation, I really mean it should be a regulation to capture the damage done. Perhaps the recycling deposit from aluminum cans should be expanded.

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#88

Post by nashashmi »

jokoon wrote: post #46

I wish hacker news was only about computing and not fringe science news, because unless it's an innovative product and it shows it's a breakthrough, it's probably techno-optimism or it's click-baity. This applies for everything about batteries, and environmental techs. The supraconductor crystal news was also quite a revealing event of the problem.

You need a filter. Maybe an AI filter?

Re: Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade PET plastics in bottles

#89

Post by fomine3 »

kragen wrote: post #68
CptFribble wrote: post #64

Another story about waste "solutions," another opportunity to remind the gentle readers about plasma gasification. A re-post of an earlier comment of mine on the topic follows: --- Why are we still not talking about plasma gasification? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification As far as I can tell, the only real "disadvantages" if you can call them that, are: 1. more expensive than throwing the garbage in a…

probably because landfills work fine if you aren't on an aircraft carrier. and they're cheaper. they're also rich veins of valuable minerals for the future, but that unfortunately doesn't figure into their present profitability

You missed many countries aren't huge unlike the US
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