ISOLATION OF HIGH DENSITY POLYETHELENE DEGRADATING BACTERIA FROM SOILSonika Sandip Patil, Monika Sandip Patil and G.R. PathadeAbstract Plastics are the most commonly used polymers for routine applications. These plastics are less biodegradable in the environment. So the plastics accumulated drastically in the environment and had bad effects on it. High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is a major cause of persistent and long-term environmental pollution. The main objective of the present study is the isolation and screening of bacterial species with the capability to degrade high-density polyethylene (HDPE). The two bacterial isolates were identified from soil collected from the dumping yard of village Atake (Tal-Karad, Dist-Satara). These two bacterial isolates were obtained on minimal agar medium incorporated with HDPE. These isolates are further tested for degradation of the plastic. The isolate 1 (Bacillus cereus) could degrade the plastic to the extent of 16% in terms of % weight loss, while the isolate 2 (Pseudomonas halobacterium) could degrade the plastic to the extent of 10% in terms of % weight loss, thus the isolate 1, which was identified as Bacillus cereus was found to be the best among the two isolates. |