Mesopotamia Environmental Journal ISSN 2410-2598 Mesop. environ. j. 2015, Vol.1, No.4:1- 14. www.bumej.com 1 Isolation, Screening and Identification of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) degrading bacteria from contaminated soil with plastic wastes Amal A. Hussein 1 Ithar K. Al-Mayaly 2 Saad H.Khudeir 3 1Applied of Science Department.University of Technology. Baghdad, Iraq. 2Deparetment of Biology.University of Baghdad. Baghdad, Iraq. 3Ministry of Science and Technology.Baghdad, Iraq. Corresponding author: amelali71@yahoo.com To cite this article: Hussein, A. A. ; Al-Mayaly , I. K. and Kudier, S. H. Isolation, Screening and Identification of Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) degrading bacteria from contaminated soil with plastic wastes. Mesopotomia environment Journal,Vol. 1, No.4 , 2015, pp. 1-14. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. Abstract One hundred and sixty nine bacterial isolates were isolated from 64 soil and plastic waste samples from different municipal landfill regions in Baghdad city. Primary screening has been done for the bacterial isolates depending on bacterial growth (OD600nm) in low density polyethylene solid and liquid medium. Forty two isolates show high efficient to degrade LDPE powder, then secondary screening has been done depending on bacterial growth, color change in solid medium, and change in pH medium. Bacterial isolates Mw43, Tw53 and Shw51were given high ability to degrade LDPE strips. These three isolates have been identified as Pseudomonas fluorescens ، Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter ursingii, respectively. Keywords; Biodegradation, LDPE, Plastic waste, Pseudomonas Introduction During the past 3-decades, plastic materials have been increasingly used in food clothing, shelter, transportation, construction, medical, and recreation industries. Plastics are advantageous as they are strong, light-weighted, and durable. However, they are disadvantageous as they are resistant to biodegradation, leading to pollution, harmful to the natural environment. Increasing environmental