Polyethylene is the material used in manufacturing different plastics due to its light weight and having excellent weight carrying ability. However, this material is resistant to degradation as it has high molecular weight. Due to their tremendous use, the accumulating plastic waste material is causing an ever increasing ecological danger. This problem can be resolved by manufacturing biodegradable plastics or by using natural ability of microorganisms to degrade plastic material. The current study has been designed to test the ability of fungi to degrade this non reducible material. Multiple soil s amples were taken from municip al waste material in the suburb areas of Faisalabad and from University of A griculture, Faisalabad . Isolated fungal species were screened for the biodegradability of plastic material. Among them, Aspergillus and Penicillium species exhibited biodegradability of plastic material. Aspergillus sp ecies were observed more effective in degrading polyethylene plastics. Additionally, effect on r ate of biodegradation was tested on the basis of different parameters like starch blending, UV light, and time of incubation. UV light irradiation was found more effective parameter that greatly enhanced the rate of biodegradation of polyethylene strips observed by scanning electron microscope.
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