Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6 is a newly discovered bacterium that can break down PET plastic using two enzymes, PETase and MHETase. Each year, over 100 million tons of plastics are produced worldwide, with Americans dumping over 10 million tons of plastic waste into the oceans annually. I. sakaiensis can fully degrade thin films of PET plastic within six weeks at 30 degrees Celsius by breaking the plastic down into its components of ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid, which it uses as an energy source.