Priya AK

ABSTRACT

Man has created an upcoming disaster in the name of modern development whose impact may persist for thousands of years. Millions of sea birds, turtles and marine mammals etc.., die every years. Millions of pollution due to plastics. There are various other impacts due to improper disposal. Polyethylene is one of major types of plastic used worldwide.Different methods of management are being tried out such as recycling, converting to fuel, as construction material, etc. Complete removal of this pollutant without any additional pollution can be possible by mineralization of such material using biodegradation process.In this paper, the proposed a methodology for degradation of polyethylene with the help of micro organisms such as bacteria and fungi. Some micro-organisms are capable of producing exo-enzymes that can break up the polymeric structure which can be further broken down by intracellular metabolism. The positive results will be a solution for this long lasting environmental issue. Key words:Polyethylene,biodegradation, environmental issue, recycling, pollution.