RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The Pseudomonas spp. from three diverse terrestrial locations (P1: household garbage dump; P2: soil from textile effluents drainage site; and P3: sewage sludge dump) were isolated and characterised basing on their morphological and biochemical characteristics (Table 1). After 8 weeks of incubation in an incubator shaker at 40°C and 150 rpm, the culture flasks were removed
and tested for the viability of bacteria and any contamination in the medium. The blanks and the
treatments showed good stability of Pseudomonas in the medium with no sign of contamination. In
addition, there was intense biofilm formation by all the Pseudomonas spp. which was clearly visible in the broth. Among all the treatments, P3 (i.e. Pseudomonas from sewage sludge dump) was found to degrade both natural and synthetic polyethylene very efficiently with 46.2% for T1 (Pseudomonas + natural polyethylene) and 29.1% for T2 (Pseudomonas + synthetic polyethylene). In contrast, P1 (i.e. Pseudomonas from household garbage dump) gave the lowest biodegradability of 31.4% for T1 and 16.3% for T2. However, P2 (i.e. Pseudomonas isolated from textile effluents drainage soil) gave an intermediate biodegradability of 39.7% and 19.6% for T1 and T2, respectively.