Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research find bacterium Rhodococcus ruber eats plastic

In the Netherlands, the bacterium Rhodococcus ruber eats and actually digests plastic. This has been shown in laboratory experiments by researchers at the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ). Based on a model study with plastic in artificial seawater in the lab, researchers calculated that bacteria can break down about one percent of the fed plastic per year into CO2 and other harmless substances. To discover whether ‘wild’ bacteria also eat plastic ‘in the wild’, follow-up research needs to be done.