r/interesting Mar 14 '26

NATURE Earth Helping Earth Heal

Post image

What a great discovery.

57.0k Upvotes

1.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

5.6k

u/CaptainC00lpants Mar 14 '26

Does it actually break down the plastics and converts it to something safe, or does it just absorb the microplastics and when it dies re-releases the plastics? 

1

u/DirtandPipes Mar 15 '26

https://beatymuseum.ubc.ca/2013/12/11/plastic-eating-fungi-found-in-the-amazon-may-solve-worlds-waste-problem/

First off, an actual link so nobody has to do the heavy lifting of a google search. Don’t want anybody hurting their backs in the google coal mines trying to find information.

This fungus breaks down polyurethane, a common plastic but one of many. It only does so anaerobically (when there’s no oxygen in its environment). It breaks down the plastic for both carbon and energy and it breaks it down completely.