mushroom, Pestalotiopsis microspora, that can  consume plastic. The mushroom's plastic-devouring  

properties were first discovered in 2011  by a team of Yale undergraduates and their  

professor in the Amazon rainforest. What sets this  fungus apart is its ability to subsist solely on  

polyurethane and, notably, its capability to  do so even without oxygen. This trait makes it  

potentially useful for degradation of plastic  waste in landfills. While more research is  

required to fully understand the potential  of these mushrooms, the discovery offers  

a potential biological method for addressing  the escalating global issue of plastic waste.