Dr Kevin O'Connor
Dr O’Connor teamed up with Professor Walter Kaminsky of the University of Hamburg, an expert in a technique called pyrolysis, which converts polystyrene into styrene oil. This oil can be used as cheap fuel, or as Dr O’Connor discovered, it can be used to make something even more valuable once his special bugs are allowed to feast on it. He uses a bacterium that is able to eat styrene. After feeding on the styrene, this bacterium breaks it down into even smaller molecules and stores it in the form of a plastic called PHA. The exceptional thing about PHA is that it is a flexible heat resistant plastic that, unlike polystyrene, is biodegradable.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, more than 14 million metric tons of polystyrene are produced worldwide annually but only 1 per cent of polystyrene waste is currently recycled. This ratio may shift dramatically if Dr O’Connor’s proposed technology gains widespread recognition and is put into practice. The diversion of polystyrene from landfill and its subsequent conversion to a biodegradable plastic is doubly beneficial as it reduces the burden of polystyrene on the environment and produces a plastic that can be added to compost, thus assisting carbon recycling into the environment.
