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People Fixing The World

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Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

Discover the people and the projects trying to make the world a better place.

A weekly programme looking at common challenges around the world and the creative ways people are trying to tackle them.

Presenter Myra Anubi speaks to reporters, experts and innovators to investigate how effective different solutions are, share their successes and inspire listeners with what is possible.

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People Fixing The World: The plastic eaters

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The plastic eaters

28/11/2023 GMT

BBC World Service - People Fixing The World, The plastic eaters

The hungry enzymes that might just be the solution to plastic pollution.

Every year the world produces 400 million tonnes of plastic – the same weight as all the humans on earth. 

Only a small proportion of this is recycled, and this isn’t proper recycling but “downcycling” – the new plastic is of a lower quality, meaning that almost all plastic eventually goes to waste. 

But now French company Carbios is using enzymes to break plastic down into its chemical building blocks – which can then be used to make high quality plastic again. 

So is plastic on the brink of becoming a resource like glass or aluminium, that you can keep on moulding and recycling again and again?

Presenter: Myra Anubi
Reporter/producer: William Kremer
Series producer: Jon Bithrey
Sound mix: Gareth Jones
Editor: Penny Murphy

email: peoplefixingtheworld@bbc.co.uk

Image: Carbios scientist holds pieces of plastic, BBC

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