The plastic eaters

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Every year the world produces 400 million tonnes of plastic – the same weight as all the humans on earth. Only a small proportion of this is recycled, and this isn’t proper recycling but “downcycling” – the new plastic is of a lower quality, meaning that almost all plastic eventually goes to waste. But now French company Carbios is using enzymes to break plastic down into its chemical building blocks – which can then be used to make high quality plastic again. So is plastic on the brink of becoming a resource like glass or aluminium, that you can keep on moulding and recycling again and again? Presenter: Myra Anubi Reporter/producer: William Kremer Series producer: Jon Bithrey Sound mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Penny Murphy email: [email protected] Image: Carbios scientist holds pieces of plastic, BBC