Plastic Eating Fungi? with Biodegradation Researcher Dr. Amira Samat

What if “forever plastic” didn’t have to last forever?

In this episode of the Not Impossible Podcast, host and Not Impossible Labs founder Mick Ebeling sits down with Dr. Amira Samat, a biologist whose research challenges one of the world’s most stubborn assumptions: that polypropylene, one of our most common plastics, can never truly break down.

Polypropylene is everywhere: pill bottles, takeout containers, carpets, furniture, cars, medical tools. It’s durable, cheap, and efficient… which is exactly why it’s become a global environmental crisis.

But while scientists have long believed polypropylene was essentially indestructible, Amira discovered something remarkable: a natural combination of fungi and bacteria that can break it down significantly in months, not centuries.

This wasn’t supposed to be possible. And yet… here we are.

This conversation dives into:
How Amira discovered plastic-eating microorganisms
The science behind biodegradation (made simple)
Why this breakthrough could reshape ocean cleanup