How can microbes consume a plastic material?
Normally the microbes can not access the carbon or hydrogen in a plastic material because the chains are too long – indicated by the huge molecular mass of plastics, e.g. 300,000u However, it is now widely recognized that when a plastic material descends to below 40,000 molecular weight – due to oxidative degradation – the material becomes water wettable and can sustain a bio-film on its surface. This bio-film supports numerous micro-organisms that will feed off the carbon and hydrogen elements of the oxidizing plastic.
