While new solutions are constantly being developed against plastic waste, one of the greatest threats of our time, a new one has emerged today. Scientists say plastic is thrown into nature able to disappear naturally made a great discovery.

According to the study published in the journal Nature, plastic in nature is ‘wax wormAccording to scientists, some enzymes found in this worm species can only be found at room temperature in “polyethylene”, which is widely used in many plastic products. It was destroyed within a few hours.

The discovery was purely coincidental:

These enzymes, which will destroy the polyethylene used in bags and packaging, were actually discovered by accident. Molecular biologist who is also an amateur beekeeper Federica BertocchinicOne day he saw that the beehive he had put in the warehouse was full of wolves. Bertocchini collected these worms and put them all in a plastic bag.

But shortly afterwards Bertocchini looked at the bag again, the bag is full of holes he saw. After this incident, Bertocchini and his team began to study wolves. The study found that two enzymes called ‘Demetra’ and ‘Ceres’ oxidized polyethylene.

Other creatures that can destroy plastic have also been discovered before:

Waxworms didn’t go down in history as the first creatures to destroy plastic. In 2016, scientists discovered a bacterium in a landfill in Japan that could destroy polyester. In 2021, some microbes and bacteria were discovered that live in the oceans and soil and have evolved to digest plastic.