Scientists create enzyme that breaks down plastic in hours instead of decades

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Scientists have invented an enzyme variant they say can break down plastic waste in just hours or days instead of centuries.

They say the discovery could supercharge recycling on such a scale that it would revolutionise how big industry reuses plastics that currently pollute the environment, destroying wildlife and marine life, and ending up in human bodies.

Earlier this year, experts reported that the threat from plastic pollution is almost equivalent to climate change, saying the overproduction of plastics threatens the planet’s basic ability to maintain a habitable environment.