Study finds common plastics can biodegrade within two years

Common plastics that can persist in the environment for hundreds of years can be fully broken down by naturally occurring microbes within two years, according to a study by Malaysia's Standards and Industrial Research Institute (Sirim), Imperial College London and biotechnology firm Polymateria.
Published in a special edition of the Nature Portfolio journal Materials Degradation, the researchers described the study as a world-first, finding that plastic incorporating Polymateria's Biotransformation technology rapidly transformed into a bioavailable wax when exposed to the environment, producing no microplastics in the process.
Sirim carried out the biodegradation testing for the study, which also substantiates its national Ecolabel, SIRIM ECO 098, published in 2023 based on the UK standard BSI PAS 9017.
The wax was then fully consumed by naturally occurring microbes found in soil, leaving no traces of the original material behind.
Researchers found that polyethylene and polypropylene �" the two most widely used plastic packaging materials, found in products such as cups, straws, plastic bags, films, face masks and wipes �" can fully biodegrade in nature when incorporating the technology.
"Uncovering pathways through which polyolefin plastics can fully biodegrade is a remarkable discovery.
Polymateria vice president of innovations and lead author of the study Dr Florence Huynh said the research could give policymakers and industry greater confidence that scalable solutions existed for the 32 per cent of plastic packaging waste that leaked into the environment globally each year.