For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

alan_m wrote:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?


A memory of some plastic eating bug that got out of control has been
bugging me since I heard the news. I had thought it was based on a Sci-fi
novel.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 17/04/2018 07:34, alan_m wrote:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

It is an enzyme that can digest PET discovered by researchers at Kyoto.

https://www.sciencealert.com/new-pla...ing-revolution

Several biological polymers also exist that degrade in the environment
but they are nowhere near as good as engineering plastics. OK for golf
tees and similar small objects that often get lost though.

Never been particularly commercially successful an ICI/Zeneca invention
sold to Monsanto and then changed hands a couple more times since.

http://www.bioplastic-product.com/biopol/

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

Yes. Plastic components turning to grey goo.

ISTR Prince Charles has wittered on about it too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3883749.stm

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Tue, 17 Apr 2018 07:34:25 +0100, alan_m wrote:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

When I saw the item on BBC News this morning, I said "Doomwatch: The
Plastic Eater". She couldn't remember.

It was attacking the plastic encapsulation of (SSI) chips, I remember.

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On Tue, 17 Apr 2018 06:43:47 +0000, Tim+ wrote:

alan_m wrote:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered
as the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?


A memory of some plastic eating bug that got out of control has been
bugging me since I heard the news. I had thought it was based on a
Sci-fi novel.

I am pretty sure they did books of some of the more popular episodes, and
I had that one at some stage. Not very good, as is mostly the case with
converted scripts.

I just had a look, and I don't seem to have it any more.

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wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
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Yes despite the hammy acting very scary.
This I think was on the back of the Prince Charles Grey goo speech.

Brian

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This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"alan_m" wrote in message
...

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where aircraft
were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was being recycled
this way?

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

"alan_m" wrote in message
...

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where aircraft
were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was being recycled
this way?

the stick melted !...yes I remember that......funny how things stick in
your mind.......

"Jim.GM4DHJ ..." wrote in message
...

"alan_m" wrote in message
...

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where aircraft
were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was being
recycled this way?

the stick melted !...yes I remember that......funny how things stick in
your mind.......


found it...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBf2DZh81uc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cz3DkYx1yd8

Chris Hogg Wrote in message:
On Tue, 17 Apr 2018 08:39:47 +0100, Martin Brown
wrote:

Yes. Plastic components turning to grey goo.

ISTR Prince Charles has wittered on about it too.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3883749.stm

PC _is_ grey goo!

On the subject of plastic waste, many of the fields around here are
covered in polythene sheet ATM. From a distance they look like sheets
of water, until you realise they're not horizontal. They are there to
cover rows of potatoes, to warm the soil and bring them on early, to
compete with 'new' potatoes from Egypt and Malta.

After harvesting the spuds in the Summer, the poly sheet is now dirty
with soil etc. and the farmer has to pay for it to be recycled, as it
has to be washed, and that's expensive. It's usually just bundled up
and dumped in the corner of a field, sometimes set fire to on a still
Summer's evening

at the weekend by "bloody kids" perchance?


--
Jim K


----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

On Tue, 17 Apr 2018 11:01:26 +0000, Tim Streater wrote:

In article , Bob Eager
wrote:

On Tue, 17 Apr 2018 07:34:25 +0100, alan_m wrote:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered
as the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

When I saw the item on BBC News this morning, I said "Doomwatch: The
Plastic Eater". She couldn't remember.

You call your SWMBO "Doomwatch" ??

No, not if I want to live.



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My posts are my copyright and if @diy_forums or Home Owners' Hub
wish to copy them they can pay me £1 a message.
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK: http://www.mirrorservice.org
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It all depends on whether the substance left after its been eaten is of any
use or less harmful.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"alan_m" wrote in message
...

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where aircraft
were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was being recycled
this way?

--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

It was Prince Charles who was to blame, but Doomwatch certainly did not
help.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Tim+" wrote in message
...
alan_m wrote:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?


A memory of some plastic eating bug that got out of control has been
bugging me since I heard the news. I had thought it was based on a Sci-fi
novel.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

If I recall it was accidental in the doomwatch story. If ever you develop
something like that you need to also make sure you can destroy your creation
in case it escapes out of the confines of its intended use case.
I can see this increasingly being deployed as a weapon.
Brian

--
----- -
This newsgroup posting comes to you directly from...
The Sofa of Brian Gaff...

Blind user, so no pictures please!
"Jim.GM4DHJ ..." wrote in message
...

"alan_m" wrote in message
...

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where aircraft
were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was being
recycled this way?

the stick melted !...yes I remember that......funny how things stick in
your mind.......

On 17/04/2018 14:13, Brian Gaff wrote:
It all depends on whether the substance left after its been eaten is of any
use or less harmful.
Brian

Left to its own devices the organism will metabolise the plastic back to
CO2 and H2O but by stealing its enzyme the researchers got something
approximating the monomers/components that when polymerised form PET.

How bad you think mobile low MW phthalates are depends a bit on gender.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenoestrogen

It isn't the only way to do it see 10.3 in

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyet..._terephthalate

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On 17/04/2018 14:14, Brian Gaff wrote:
It was Prince Charles who was to blame, but Doomwatch certainly did not
help.

Oh no! We'll be inundated with Grey Goo! (That was the nanobots. What
happened to them?)

--
Max Demian

On 17/04/2018 07:43, Tim+ wrote:
alan_m wrote:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?


A memory of some plastic eating bug that got out of control has been
bugging me since I heard the news. I had thought it was based on a Sci-fi
novel.

Tim

Andromeda strain?

In article ,
alan_m writes:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

Andy Hamilton mentioned this on the BBC Radio 4 New Quiz.
He said his plastic shopping bags always biodegrade as he
lifts the shopping out of the car boot...

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

On 21/04/2018 21:40, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
alan_m writes:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

Andy Hamilton mentioned this on the BBC Radio 4 New Quiz.
He said his plastic shopping bags always biodegrade as he
lifts the shopping out of the car boot...

Rymans had a batch of plastic bags a few years ago that disintegrated if
you kept them in the drawer for a few months. They had a message on them
that told you to keep them for reuse.

--
Max Demian

Chris Hogg wrote:
On Sat, 21 Apr 2018 23:02:07 +0100, Max Demian
wrote:

On 21/04/2018 21:40, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
alan_m writes:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

Andy Hamilton mentioned this on the BBC Radio 4 New Quiz.
He said his plastic shopping bags always biodegrade as he
lifts the shopping out of the car boot...

Rymans had a batch of plastic bags a few years ago that disintegrated if
you kept them in the drawer for a few months. They had a message on them
that told you to keep them for reuse.

We had some Tesco ones that did the same.

IIRC quite a few decades ago, the whole business of plastic bags
littering the countryside was a popular topic, because they weren't
breaking down. Then some chap came up with the idea of incorporating
starch granules into the plastic, which would degrade in sunlight or
something, and the plastic would fairly rapidly disintegrate into
smaller and smaller pieces, so would no longer be visually offensive
littering roadsides etc. I wonder if that process is still used, or if
they have another way of getting the bags to fall to pieces.


I think those were an oxi-degradable plastic. I remember putting some
Christmas tree decorations in one and storing it in the loft only to find
that it had fallen to pieces by next Christmas. Certainly didnt need light
to trigger the process.

There are photo-degradable plastics but they just fragment and arent
really a solution to plastic pollution.

Tim

--
Please don't feed the trolls

In article ,
Chris Hogg writes:
On Sat, 21 Apr 2018 23:02:07 +0100, Max Demian
wrote:

On 21/04/2018 21:40, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
alan_m writes:

For the past few days news on the plastic eating enzymes been offered as
the solution for some of our plastic waste.

Is anyone old enough to remember the BBC Doomwatch program where
aircraft were falling out of the sky because the plastic in them was
being recycled this way?

Andy Hamilton mentioned this on the BBC Radio 4 New Quiz.
He said his plastic shopping bags always biodegrade as he
lifts the shopping out of the car boot...

Rymans had a batch of plastic bags a few years ago that disintegrated if
you kept them in the drawer for a few months. They had a message on them
that told you to keep them for reuse.

We had some Tesco ones that did the same.

IIRC quite a few decades ago, the whole business of plastic bags
littering the countryside was a popular topic, because they weren't
breaking down. Then some chap came up with the idea of incorporating
starch granules into the plastic, which would degrade in sunlight or
something, and the plastic would fairly rapidly disintegrate into
smaller and smaller pieces, so would no longer be visually offensive
littering roadsides etc. I wonder if that process is still used, or if
they have another way of getting the bags to fall to pieces.

I had saved quite a lot of Waitrose ones from before the 5p charge,
as I use them as kitchen bin liners, having bought a bin designed
to used regular carrier bags as liners. However, they fell to pieces
after about a year, and that was without any sunlight.

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

Andrew Gabriel wrote:

I had saved quite a lot of Waitrose ones from before the 5p charge,
as I use them as kitchen bin liners, having bought a bin designed
to used regular carrier bags as liners. However, they fell to pieces
after about a year, and that was without any sunlight.

Some carriers (e.g. tesco pre carrier charge) and magazine wrappings
(e.g. New Scientist) are/were oxygen degradeable.