Fungi found to help degrade polluting polyurethane

A Mexican research team has identified fungi commonly found in waste dumps that are capable of degrading various types of polyurethane considered difficult to recycle.

This technique, which takes over 10 years to develop and is currently being patented, represents an important step forward in environmental science, Herminia Loza-Tavera, a chemistry professor at at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), has said.

According to the scientist, who is leading the project, her team has not only identified the best fungi to do the job, but also isolated the key enzyme which catalyzes degradation.

Loza-Tavera said these microorganisms can degrade up to 50 percent of mattress foam, 20 percent higher than other methods used by laboratories around the world.

The research at UNAM saw painstaking efforts to transform or alter the microorganisms through metabolic or enzymatic processes, in order to establish a system that could degrade polyurethane used to make mattress foam, shoe soles and varnish.

She added that the technique is still at an initial stage and that more human and economic resources are needed to continue the work.

According to the data collected by the team, the global production of polyurethane reached nearly 300 million tonnes in 2013, posing a daunting challenge to dispose of the polluting chemicals.

The scientist revealed that her research team will continue to work on the effect of these intriguing fungi on various compounds besides polyurethane, so as to find new ways to speed up the degradation process. Endi