Inside the long fight against plastic, a group of British scientists have identified fungi and bacteria in the coastal salt marshes of Jiangsu, south-east China, capable of "eating" plastic. According to a study published this month in the Journal of Hazardous Materials by researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens, U.K, the fungus, named Aspergillus Tubingensis, can break down non-biodegradable plastic in a matter of weeks! In total, over 200 species of plastic-eating fungi and bacteria have already been identified by researchers. Photograph: Damir Omerović