University of Manchester - Turning couches into potatoes

Even old sofas can be composted, according to scientists at the University of Manchester. The researchers have been studying polyurethane plastics which are used to make products from furniture fillings to shoe soles and which can be difficult to recycle. They have found that these plastics can degrade into compost with the assistance of certain types of fungi that have been found to turn the material into soil. Their findings are published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology.