The Problem of Bacteria Eating Plastic

Only 9% of plastic is recycled, 12% is incinerated and 79% accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. 380 million tons of plastic are produced every year; this figure will increase by 70% by 2050. The bacteria that we know that break down plastic may be actually eating it? Are they metabolizing it? Or is it just breaking down in their presence? And so what they did was very clever. They made plastic with the carbon in the plastic because most plastics are basically polymers of carbon.