The researchers have found a way to attack plastic pollution by converting it into vanilla flavoring in the process by using genetically engineered bacteria.
The research, published in the Green Chemistry journal, said the use of the bacteria marks the first biological upcycling of post-consumer plastic waste into vanillin. Vanillin is an organic compound that comes from vanilla abstract and creates the aroma and taste of vanilla. It can be made synthetically and may be found in cosmetics, ice cream and soda.
Researchers used engineered E. Coli to turn an acid found in plastic bottles into vanillin, a process that could be used to combat the global plastic waste crisis. Plastic usage has increased over the last 50 years. It’s estimated that people use up to 10 million plastic bags per minute worldwide, according to the United Nations Environment Programme.
What the numbers reveal about healthcare’s future The 2021 Philips’ Future Health Index offers insight on what global healthcare leaders are most concerned about going forward and how they are addressing challenges posed — and exposed — by the pandemic.
The effects of plastic in the environment are felt on land and in the ocean. An estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean each year, and by 2050, that plastic will outweigh all of the ocean’s fish, according to Conservation International.
U.S. landfills received 27 million tons of plastic in 2018, and only 8.7% of plastic was recycled the same year, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reported.
