Singaporeans are massive users of plastic bags, generating 680,000 tonnes of plastic waste annually, of which only 9 per cent is recycled. The remaining 620,000 tonnes is incinerated, and Nanyang Technological University professor Wang Jing-Yuan and his teammates want to slash this amount by half.

Their game plan: Pick the right bacteria, feed them with oil derived from plastic waste, and harvest the plastic-like biodegradable compound they produce.

The latter is called PHA (or polyhydroxylalkanoate), and can be used to make high-value products such as surgical threads.

If the researchers are eventually able to scale up their production of PHA, carrier bags and disposable utensils could one day be made from PHA, eliminating the problem of non-biodegradable plastic waste.

Current production methods of PHA are costly, and use raw materials like sugar or glucose instead of waste. The researchers hope their project, which has been awarded $1 million, can eventually lower prices of PHA, which now costs US$3 ($4.20) to US$5 per kg.