Team:MITADTBIO Pune/Description
<[if lt IE 9]> <[endif]>
We find ourselves amidst a colossal plastic waste crisis. Plastics, which have been one of the most convenient and revolutionary inventions are turning into a menace for the environment and different ecosystems all across the globe. Prominent names in the plastic industry include polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) which are commonly used to make a variety of products from polybags to heavy-duty pressure pipe systems. Since the plastic revolution, 6.3 billion tonnes of plastic waste has been produced worldwide[1]. We store roughly 79% of plastic waste in landfills, which results in up to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic waste entering oceans via rivers every year.[2]
Robustness, one of plastic’s greatest qualities is now turning into its curse–its longevity means that plastics stay in our environment for hundreds of years. Even when degraded, plastics break down into fragments (microplastics) and propagate into the marine food chain, choking them to death[3]. The last decade has seen a multitude of measures being undertaken to clamp down on non-biodegradable plastics. Scientists all across the globe are coming up with new technologies to create biodegradable plastics and the legislation is enforcing stricter laws when it comes to the consumption of plastic products. But one kind of plastic commodity still largely remains unnoticed, mainly due to the stigma associated with it in many societies and is causing a widespread nuisance to the ecosystem. This year the students of MITADTBIO_PUNE iGEM team are switching focus towards handling the enormous plastics based menstrual waste and its effective degradation.
Figure 2. % of Plastic usage in different industries (Source: Geyer et al. 2017)
PROBLEM STATEMENT
Since the turn of the 21st century there has been a noticeable push towards making menstrual hygiene and its products an easily affordable and available commodity to the masses. Especially in India where for decades, the very phenomenon of menstruation has been shrouded in taboo.
Fortunately, there has been a conscientious effort to educate the masses, who often hailing from rural areas remain oblivious to menstruation. Yet, even today studies have found that almost 70% of adolescent girls are unaware of menstruation prior to menarche. In fact, 71% of menstruating mothers consider the very deed to be “dirty”. India today finds itself experiencing the phenomenon of “period poverty” which is exemplified by insufficient and inaccessible menstrual hygiene essentials such as sanitary products, washrooms and clean water due to financial constraints[4]. Despite this, the most economically viable option, disposable sanitary pads have faced a steady incline in usage over the last few years. The increased accessibility of these pads a brighter future for women of the country also has its own shortcomings, prime amongst these is the increase in discarded sanitary pads.
According to the Menstrual Hygiene Alliance of India (MHAI) there are 336 million menstruating women in India, 36% of which use disposable Sanitary pads, roughly 121 million. At a conservative 8 pads being used per cycle, the mathematics adds up to 12.3 billion pads being used annually.[5]
But why are sanitary pads so harmful?
Sanitary pads today comprise 90% plastic, namely polyethylene and polypropylene. They are non-biodegradable and take a minimum of 700 years to degrade. To add to its contents, used pads are classified under solid waste according to Solid Waste Management (SWM) Rules of India[6,7]. This means used pads are more often than not wrapped in paper and discarded with the rest of the household waste. Moreover, just 2 cities in India (Pune and Bangalore) actually intervene to segregate menstrual waste from other solid waste.
Where do all these pads go?
Landfills, Incinerators or Open Dumps. Each of these having its own massive ramifications on the environment. One might think incineration is the lesser of the evils however, what most remain oblivious to is the fact that incinerating pads releases harmful dioxins and furans[8]. What makes things worse is that this isn’t ordinary plastic. Discarded pads have human blood and tissue on them, acting as hotbeds for microorganisms of all kinds, including pathogens. Letting discarded pads marinate in the open with optimal conditions of nutrition poses a major health hazard to the sanitary workers handling the garbage.
OUR INSPIRATION AND SOLUTION
The lack of any form of an eco-friendly menstrual management system is an extremely distressing issue. Living in one of only 2 cities in the nation to actively address the issue, we at MIT-ADT University want to do more. Our inspiration for this project stems from the fact that not only are we addressing the plastic waste crisis, but also bringing into focus a stigmatized topic that is rarely talked about. Therefore, we want to present the solution in the form that has never been explored before.
Using the tools of synthetic biology and in the spirit of innovation that iGEM believes in to combat real-world problems; we would like to present a novel solution for dealing with the sanitary waste problem called PEred. Our approach to decontamination includes engineering our bacteria to release an extracellular enzyme to degrade polyethylene on the detection of blood from sanitary pads.
We envision PEred to be a one-stop solution to handling soiled sanitary napkins safely and in a sustainable way. We understand that the biggest stakeholders who will benefit from our project will be municipal corporations, sanitary workers who personally come in contact with this waste and various health organizations. We want our product to be innovative and user-friendly, while at the same time running on a commercially viable business model.
