Figure 1.

Microbial growth and measurement of biological degradation of polymer films. (a) Rhodococcus rhodochrous grown on low-density polyethylene (LDPE) underwent water washes and acid washing prior to visualisation by SEM (scale bar 1 µm). Large deposits of dead cells were clearly still visible after this treatment, revealing the challenges in the removal of bacterial films. (b) R. rhodochrous grown on ¹³C-glucose. There was no difference between measurement of CO₂ (dark grey) or ¹³CO₂ (light grey) after 196 h (n = 3, p = 0.98), directly linking carbon uptake with respiration. (c) Measurement of CO₂ production by R. rhodochrous in minimal media (open diamond) on unaged LDPE (red circle) or unaged oxo-LDPE (blue square) revealed no significant effect due to the presence or type of plastic (n = 5, p = 0.99).