Assistant Professor Erica Majumder and her students collected trash from the Dane County landfill in Madison to study the microbes that help break it down. They found that microbes were not degrading plastic items that were decades old, likely due to the presence of other trash that is easier for microbes to digest. Majumder and her team have been exploring ways to create bioplastics that break down more easily, using byproducts from agricultural operations such as acid whey from Greek yogurt production. They have also collaborated with another lab to develop a compound from broken down sugars that can be used to build bioplastics that are also biodegradable. Majumder hopes that her work will help create a “circular bioeconomy” where biological materials are re-used in production to reduce waste. In this scenario, bioplastics could be broken down by microbes into building blocks for new bioplastics, reducing the need for extracting new resources.
A Wisconsin scientist delves into the microbial world found in the trash at Dane County’s landfill site.
