Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Bacteria Produce Biodegradable Plastic

By IPS Correspondents and - - Reprint | | Print |

BUENOS AIRES, Aug 30 2004 (IPS) - Argentine researchers announced on Aug. 20 that a new industrial process is available to produce a plastic that quickly degrades after being buried. The key in production is the Azotobacter chroococcum bacterium. The discoverers, scientists from the agro-food division at the agronomy school of the University of Buenos Aires, for ten years have been searching for a plastic that would disintegrate once it is discarded, thereby reducing pollution.

They found that the Azotobacter chroococcum accumulates polyester as a reserve — up to 80 percent of their weight in just four days — as a reaction to lack of oxygen or nitrogen, for example, when it is buried in the soil.

Silvia Miyazaki, head of the research team, explained to Tierramérica that the material extracted from the bacteria is purified through heat to turn it into plastic. It is inert in the air, but becomes biodegradable after one month in the ground.