Plastic and Petroleum Hydrocarbon Degrading Potentials of Single and Mixed Bacterial Cultures Isolated from Garbage Areas of Darrang, Assam

The ability of bacterial isolates viz., Enterococcus cloacae and mixed bacterial isolates, to degrade plastic was studied. The bacteria were isolated from waste effluent sites viz., industrial waste sites of Nilon’s pickle factory, Dalgaon and market waste sites of Balugaon vegetable market, Kharupetia, Assam. Plastic degradation was carried out at different time intervals within 15 and 30 days. It was observed that degradation increased with an increase in the time interval and hence effective observation was recovered after 30 days interval. Polythene bags showed maximum degradation by Enterococcus cloacae (85.25%). Plastic degradation was observed by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). In biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbon, Enterococcus cloacae, Pseudomonas putidia and Ralstonia pickettii were found to degrade oil as well as they were able to grow in presence of petroleum hydrocarbons.