Biodegradation of plastic materials obtained from solid waste dumpsites in Nigeria, using native bacterial strains

Abstract

Plastic packaging materials constitute a major potential environmental pollutant due to their slow degradation rates. This study aimed to isolate the plastic-degrading bacteria from the solid waste dumpsites of Abuja, Nigeria. Soil samples (n= 72) and plastic materials (bottles and bags) were collected from the dumpsites using soil augers and manual picking, respectively. Bacteriological analysis of the soil samples revealed the recovery of a total of 54 bacterial isolates, which were distributed among the genera of; Proteus sp. ( 33.3 %), Providencia sp. (29.63 %), Pseudomonas sp. (16.67 %), Bacillus sp. (9.26 %), Micrococcus sp. (5.56 %), Escherichia coli (1.85 %), Enterobacter sp. (1.85 %), and Serratia sp. (1.85 %).The bacterial isolates were inoculated into a series of shake flasks containing nutrient broth and pre-sterilized strips (1×1 cm) of plastic bags (0.05-0.0514 g) and plastic bottles (0.05-0.0529 g), and then incubated at 30 o C for 60 d to monitor their biodegradation using the weight loss method. The strips of bottles (0.58-49.00 %) were more susceptible to biodegradation than the plastic bags (0.78-15.40 %) after 60 d of incubation. The results demonstrated that about 6 of the bacterial isolates belong to the two genera of Proteus sp. and Providencia spp., and were considered the best bio-degraders. Molecular characterization of these potent isolates has identified them as Proteus mirabilis strain PPB3 (49.00 %), Proteus mirabilis strain UPMSD3 (32.07 %), Proteus mirabilis strain HH133 (20.41 %), Proteus mirabilis strain SSBIKEN (15.40 %), Providencia vermicola strain M4 (14.96 %), and Providencia vermicola strain 11 (12.20 %). These strains could be considered as potential biodegradation agents for the plastic materials that are prevalent in dumpsites.

Bacteria in drinking and bathing mineral waters of Serbia with polymer-degrading potential

“…Some representatives of genera identified at the highest relative abundance in three mineral water samples, such as Aeromonas, Klebsiella, Escherichia, Salmonella, Enterobacter, Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus, Acinetobacter, Stenotrophomonas, Proteus and Bacillus have been previously documented to have pathogenic potential [5]. Some of the detected representatives, such as Proteus [11], Stenotrophomonas [12], Pseudomonas [13], Aeromonas [14] and Microbacterium [15], have a documented biotechnological potential in degradation of plastic or lignocellulose polymeric materials.…”

Heavy Metal Tolerance of Bacterial Isolates from Solid Waste Dumping Sites in Abuja, Nigeria

“…The implication of this finding is that majority of the Cr, Ni and Pb tolerant-bacteria were predominantly distributed in soil samples from Gosa and Gwagwalada dumpiste, probably due to the huge volumes of solid wastes disposed at these locations over the years. According to previous studies Gosa and Gwagwalada dumpsites are the most famous and voluminous solid waste dumping site due to their strategic locations to municipal, industrial and commercial waste generation centers (Sawyerr et al, 2017;Ojiego et al, 2019;Saidu et al, 2021). The dumpsites are used by farmers for planting mostly vegetables and maize and thus, identification of the metal tolerant bacteria will be significant in proper bioremediation of the heavy metals at the sites by the bacterial agents.…”

“…They are constantly generated from municipal, commercial and industrial sources. These wastes are then transported from the generation sites to a landfill or dumping sites for further processing (Agamuthu and Fauziah, 2010;Ojiego et al, 2019). Industrialization and rise in human population in recent years has increased the number of tons of municipal solid waste generated (Okoronkwo and Okpokwasili, 2018;Ojiego et al, 2019;Ojiego et al, 2022a).…”

“…These wastes are then transported from the generation sites to a landfill or dumping sites for further processing (Agamuthu and Fauziah, 2010;Ojiego et al, 2019). Industrialization and rise in human population in recent years has increased the number of tons of municipal solid waste generated (Okoronkwo and Okpokwasili, 2018;Ojiego et al, 2019;Ojiego et al, 2022a). Decomposition of wastes and leachates from these landfills could affect health of humans and destabilize balance of the environment (Afolagboye et al, 2020).…”