
12/10/2025
A group of Yale University students discovered a fungus in the Amazon rainforest that can degrade polyurethane, a common type of plastic.
The fungus, Pestalotiopsis microspora, was found during a research trip to Ecuador and later tested in lab conditions.
What makes Pestalotiopsis microspora especially promising is that it can break down polyurethane both in the presence and absence of oxygen, making it effective even in landfills where oxygen is limited.
This fungus metabolizes the plastic and turns it into organic matter as part of its natural digestive process.
This discovery has significant implications for tackling plastic pollution, especially since polyurethane is widely used in everyday products like insulation, furniture, footwear, and foam products—and is notoriously hard to recycle.
While the fungi's capabilities are still in early research stages and haven't been widely scaled industrially, it presents a hopeful direction for eco-friendly waste management and biodegradation technologies.
Researchers are continuing to study and experiment with such organisms, hoping to develop biological solutions to plastic waste that don’t rely solely on mechanical recycling or incineration, which have environmental drawbacks.