Polyurethane is an important plastic in the building industry and is used in foam insulation. In 2011, Europe, the Middle East and Africa produced over five million tonnes of polyurethane and levels of polyurethane waste are expected to rise.1 The market for polyurethane is being driven partly by its use in more sustainable buildings – better insulation reduces energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions, and contributes towards the EU meeting its emissions targets. Polyurethane is also used in the foam seats of cars, trucks and other vehicles.2 The End-of-Life Vehicles Directive (ELV-2000/53/EC) controls how waste from vehicles is managed.
The European Diisocyanate & Polyol Producers Association (ISOPA) is the trade association for producers of the main chemicals used in making polyurethanes and works with legislators to guide best practice in waste management of polyurethanes.A number of studies have already demonstrated polyurethane degradation by other microbes. The microbes ‘feed’ on the plastic, using it as a source of carbon to fuel internal processes. In most previous studies it was found that, unless microbes supplemented their plastic diets with other sources of carbon, they took a long time to digest the plastic.
In the new study, the researchers identify various plant fungi that can use polyurethane as a sole carbon source. They demonstrate this for two populations of Pestalotiopsis microspora and several others from the same genus, although they note that the ability to degrade polyurethane is not universal across all Pestalotiopsis species. All the fungi tested were collected from woody plants in the Yasuni National Forest within the Ecuadorian Amazonian rainforest and grown on polyurethane in the laboratory.