There’s also a danger that if a microbe that can destroy plastic evolved or was engineered, it might destroy plastic parts we don’t want destroyed in the actual environment.
When trees originally evolved, there was nothing on the planet that could consume them. The result was massive forests that never rotted. In the geological record, this is called the carboniferous period because many of those dead forests were driven underground and became coal beds. The carboniferous period ended when microorganisms evolved a method to rot and consume cellulose. For this reason, many people who think that the coal beds will reestablish themselves are just wrong. The amount of coal that we have on the planet Earth is basically the amount that we’re going to have.
Now the other side of the coin is that plastics don’t actually represent a huge amount of carbon, and they do represent a lot of potentially toxic substances floating around in the environment that could have a longer term impact. If we can biodegrade those toxins, then the environment would be that much healthier in general.
You’re absolutely correct, it would.
There’s also a danger that if a microbe that can destroy plastic evolved or was engineered, it might destroy plastic parts we don’t want destroyed in the actual environment.
When trees originally evolved, there was nothing on the planet that could consume them. The result was massive forests that never rotted. In the geological record, this is called the carboniferous period because many of those dead forests were driven underground and became coal beds. The carboniferous period ended when microorganisms evolved a method to rot and consume cellulose. For this reason, many people who think that the coal beds will reestablish themselves are just wrong. The amount of coal that we have on the planet Earth is basically the amount that we’re going to have.
Now the other side of the coin is that plastics don’t actually represent a huge amount of carbon, and they do represent a lot of potentially toxic substances floating around in the environment that could have a longer term impact. If we can biodegrade those toxins, then the environment would be that much healthier in general.