A fungus discovered on a rubbish heap in Pakistan could break down plastics in a matter of weeks instead of years. Aspergillus tubingensis was found to break down a type of plastic known as polyester polyurethane (PU) in just eight weeks. Plastics normally take decades or even hundreds of years to biodegrade making them extremely harmful to the surrounding environment.
Earlier this week a giant structure was sent into the Pacific Ocean to try and clean up some of the plastic waste that has been dumped into the sea. Even if it's collected however there's still no way of getting rid of it without using conventional rubbish dumps. This organism is just one of several recent discoveries highlighted in a new report by Kew Gardens on the importance of fungi.
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