Maybe the only thing more worrisome than microplastics everywhere is unstoppable plastics eating organisms everywhere, eating through all plastics everywhere.

If you don't eat your biomass compound goo, you can't have any PlastiYum bacterial sludge

Is there any of this ”bacteria converting plastic to fuel/food/neutral stuff“ actually applied anywhere at scale under economically reasonably conditions?

There was a Doomwatch episode on his subject with airliners falling out of the sky bcause all the plastic had been eaten away.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doomwatch#Series_One

In 2011 researchers identified a fungus named pestalotiopsis microspora. It gained widespread attention because it can digest polyurethane plastic and survive entirely in anaerobic conditions, making it a prime candidate for deployment at the bottom of landfills.

I for one look forward to serving this underground deity.

Honestly at this point I think the way to go may be to stop using plastics where they're not absolutely required, and to subsequently burn what goes into landfill while producing electricity and reclaiming heat. Better that than this.

And here I thought we were going to be fed insects when we hit final-stage capitalism