Plastic with bacterial spores in its composition decomposes in a matter of months

An innovative biodegradable plastic has been developed at the University of California, San Diego. It is a special thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) in which spores of Bacillus subtilis bacteria are embedded. It is on them that the effective decomposition of the polymer material depends.

Tests have shown that only 1{5d8ad451dcb88f73145f9afe6e53790da0d8d7cc32b061f8250f6ee5a18d7bf5} of the total mass of the plastic needs only 1{5d8ad451dcb88f73145f9afe6e53790da0d8d7cc32b061f8250f6ee5a18d7bf5} of microorganisms to decompose more than 90{5d8ad451dcb88f73145f9afe6e53790da0d8d7cc32b061f8250f6ee5a18d7bf5} of the plastic in less than six months in compost.