Plastic-eating enzyme 'cocktail' recycles plastic waste 'endlessly'

Scientists have been inspired by Pacman to create a plastic-eating'cocktail', which could help eradicate plastic waste. It's made up of two enzymes – called PETase and MHETase – produced by a type of bacteria that feeds on plastic bottles, called Ideonella sakaiensis. Unlike natural degradation, which can take hundreds of years, the super-enzyme is able to convert the plastic back to its original'building blocks' in a few days. The two enzymes work together like'two Pac-men joined by a piece of string' munching down snack pellets in the popular video game. The new super-enzyme digests plastic up to six times faster than the original PETase enzyme alone, which was discovered by the team in 2018.