class="Typography_base__k7c9F FixedHeader_desktopPrimaryContext__TOpED Typography_sizeMobile16__Wygfe Typography_lineHeightMobile24__xwyV0 Typography_regular__Aqp4p Typography_colourInherit__xnbjy" data-component="Text">Experiments conducted by researchers at the University of Sydney, published in science journal npj Materials Degradation, found that two types of fungi could be harnessed to attack small samples of polypropylene, which is used to make items like takeaway containers, ice-cream tubs and cling film. "If you've got a town that has very limited waste management infrastructure but is able to use a fungus or a bacteria or an enzyme to treat their waste stockpiles and they can turn that waste stockpile into a lower mass stockpile …  then that's a great thing," Dr Harvey said. This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced