Minimal conditions to degrade low density polyethylene by Aspergillus terreus and niger

Abstract

Plastics pollution is a major worldwide concern because there is strong evidence about marine influence on the human trophic chain. Thus, we experimented with the biodegradation of low density polyethylene (LDPE) by A. niger and A. terreus in order to increase the degradation rate without any co-substrate or photothermal treatment. Our contribution is to show how to degrade LDPE under minimum nutritional conditions using both LDPE and sucrose as carbon sources. Up to 30% weight loss was obtained by A. niger and A. terreus which were isolated from an Ecuadorian mangrove. The evidence of cracks and biomass growth on the LDPE surface samples showed the potential of both fungi species to operate under low nutrient concentrations. The outlook of the present work was focused on understanding the fungi survival under minimal conditions.