Vol. 5, Issue 5, Part D (2019)

Abstract
Plastic wastes accumulating in the environment are posing an ever increasing ecological threat. Plastics that are biodegradable can be considered environment friendly, they have an increasing range of potential application and are driven by the growing use of plastics in packaging. In this study, the biodegradation of polythene bag was analyzed 1 month of incubation in liquid culture method. Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) is one of the polymers that is up till date nearly impossible to be degraded safely. However, considering their abundance in the environment and their specificity in attacking plastics, biodegradation of plastics by microorganisms and enzymes seems to be the most effective process. This study introspected the comparative extent of plastic biodegradation by employing bacterial species and fungal species. The bacterial isolates such as Streptococcus and Pseudomonas alcaligenes were identified by morphological and biochemical characterization. The biodegradation efficacy of Streptococcus and Pseudomonas alcaligenes by using polythene bag were studied. The Pseudomonas was found to be more effective than Streptococcus in degradation of polythene bag at 30 days. An increase in incubation period there is a dramatic increase in weight loss of polythene bag.