Researchers at Kyoto University in Japan discovered a new bacteria that is the most effective, to date, at degrading plastic. This bacteria has two enzymes that help break down plastic. The first strips the plastic of its structure and reduces it to and acid. The second enzyme turns that acid into the basic building blocks of plastic, which could be recycled and used again.
The name of the bacteria is I. sakaiensis. It is particularly good at breaking down a type of plastic called PET. PET is used most commonly to make bottles because of its reliable water barrier. PET can take hundreds of years to biodegrade, which is why our landfills and oceans are filled with it.
Right now, researchers are working on mapping the genome of the bacteria in hopes of producing a super charged version of it in the future.