TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A research team from National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU) in Keelung discovered a new bacterial strain capable of decomposing plastic.

According to an NTOU press release on Monday (April 22), the team, led by assistant professor Ho Ying-ning (何攖寧) from the Institute of Marine Biology, discovered that the “Oceanimonas pelagia NTOU-MSR1” bacteria strain can break down plastic. Their findings were published in the Antonie van Leeuwenhoek Journal of Microbiology and the team will explore further applications, per CNA.

NTOU said eight to 12 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean annually, severely impacting the ecosystem. Waves then act on these plastics to form microplastics, which enter the food chain and allow seawater to absorb more pollutants forming a “marine plastisphere” that fosters microorganisms that increase the risk of disease transmission, the university explained.

NTOU reported that this strain of oceanic bacteria, Oceanimonas, was isolated from marine sediments off the northern coast of Taiwan. It added that it is a gram-negative, aerobic, and mobile bacterium with high environmental adaptability.

The university added that the findings revealed NTOU-MSR1 can also be used as an environmentally friendly alternative (bioplastics) to conventional petroleum-based plastics.

Ho said, that in the future, the team will study the environmental restoration and commercial potential of NTOU-MSR1, hoping to fully utilize its biochemical capabilities to develop practical applications for environmental protection and resource reuse.