Is there any sign that bacteria’s are evolving in landfills to eat plastics? If they did start to evolve would they be able to spread throughout a landfill and could they be moved to other landfills if discovered and establish themselves.
Some bacteria do eat some types of plastics, but “plastic” isn’t a single molecule and won’t have a single solution to eating all of them. If a bacteria did evolve that could eat all types of plastic, you would not want to move them around because they would collapse civilization and drive the fraction of humanity that survives the immediate difficulties back by centuries.
I am ashamed of myself, the thought never crossed my mind that they would also eat non discarded plastics. By the way that would be a fantastic story line for a movie!
Even then, it might not be an issue. Like, much is made of the fact that polylactate (PLA), now often used for disposable utensils and the like, is compostable… but they never mention that it’s only compostable in extreme conditions in industrial-scale compost operations, not in your backyard garden pile (or in an ordinary landfill). And certainly, the rack of plastic forks at Chipotle isn’t getting eaten away.
Yeah, plenty of micro-organisms eat wood, and yet, wooden structures can be maintained for years.
Maybe you could use the title The Andromeda Strain II?
Beat me to it!
Plastics devoured… polyester-blend fabrics disintegrate, leading to widespread nudity… plexiglass windshields dissolve… PVC plumbing and IV tubing vanish… plastic pens and refills go, oozing ink… warehouse loads of plastic pill bottles, soda bottles, bleach and detergent bottles, all release… lawn flamingos are gone… oh, the humanity!
All computing devices will go skeletal, too. No, let’s not have any general plastivore bacteria. We’ve enough other ways to cripple civilization.
Also the insulation on wires.
We could write spicy stories in many genres about the global disappearance of plastic. Horror, comedy, smut, religious drama, new fashion tips. SF: identify aliens by their melted plastic prostheses. Pr0n: replace vinyl BDSM-wear. Faith: oh no, where did my plastic Jesus go? Politics: when the plastic politicians have gone, who’s left?
Can we train AIs to breed bacteria to feast on specific plastics? If the AIs and/or bacteria escape control, would humanity be doomed?
See the story “Ill Wind” by Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason
Not much biotic action occurs in land fills except for close to the surface. Unless they were anaerobic bacteria particularly suited to that environment plastic eating bacteria are unlikely to emerge from landfills. Someone noted above how wood structures can be maintained for a long time while wood eating bacteria are everywhere, that’s why the earth isn’t covered in dead wood.
Except for the AI part, it’s the only way bacteria are going to eat plastic. As someone said above, there’s no “plastic” molecule. Plastic is a collective term for a variety of synthetic molecules, or more often, a mixture of them. Bacteria may evolve on their own to eat some specific molecules used in plastic. And they already have for some specific molecules, as the same person (OK, it was Darren) posted. In fact, it would be a good thing if they did so for all types of plastic, since that would help with the plastic pollution in the ocean. But even if they did, the plastic on your body (polyester, etc.) is not going to fall apart while you’re wearing it.