TOPICSPlastic pollution

Plastic pollution

Young woman blowing pink bubble gum
Health

Chewing Gum: Hidden source of Microplastics in your saliva

Pranjal Malewar

Chewing gum can release hundreds to thousands of microplastics per piece into saliva

Artistic rendering of the new plastic. Cross linked salt bridges visible in the plastic outside the seawater give it its structure and strength. In seawater (and in soil, not depicted), resalting destroys the bridges, making it water soluble, thus preventing microplastic formation and allowing the plastic to become biodegradable. © 2025 RIKEN
Science

New biodegradable material dissolves in ocean water

Pranjal Malewar

Tackling the problem of microplastics

Plastic and plastic bag
Environment

A simple method to break down plastic using air moisture

Pranjal Malewar

Plastic recycling gets a breath of fresh air.

Remote sensing to help water pollution
Environment

Using remote sensing to monitor plastic debris in rivers and lakes

Pranjal Malewar

First-of-its-kind!

The microparticles seen here are made of biodegradable polymers that dissolve in the stomach to release encapsulated vitamins and minerals.
Science

New biodegradable material to replace the plastic beads

Ashwini Sakharkar

MIT chemical engineers designed an environmentally friendly alternative to the microbeads.

Mealworms
Environment

Can mealworms be the solution to our microplastic problem?

Pranjal Malewar

Mealworms are Nature’s scavengers and decomposers.

black plastic recycling
Science

Researchers use sunlight to recycle black plastic

Jay Kakade

Due to black filler materials, black plastics have posed a serious challenge in ineffective sorting. Black plastic early has a 0% recycling rate, which...

Crushed plastic bottles for recycling
Environment

Revolutionary polymer design balances toughness and recyclability

Pranjal Malewar

Plastics can be both tough and recyclable.

Yellow-nosed Albatross
Wildlife

How do penguins and albatrosses find their food?

Pranjal Malewar

This is the first time this ability has been identified in seabirds.

researchers
Invention

New tool tells how much microplastic you are drinking in minutes

Ashwini Sakharkar

It can detect plastic particles ranging from 50 nanometres to 10 microns in size.

Lasers and 2D materials could solve the world's plastic problem.
Technology

Lasers could help solve the world’s plastic problem

Ashwini Sakharkar

This discovery has significant implications for addressing environmental challenges.

scientist with medical gloves inspecting micro plastics
Health

Scientists detected 23 types of microplastics in the testicular tissue

Pranjal Malewar

This finding raises more concerns over the potential impact of microplastics.

Galápagos penguin
Environment

The impact of microplastics on the Galápagos Islands Food Web

PLOS

And excretion rate may determine whether or not these microplastics also bioaccumulate across trophic levels.

Environmental pollution of plastic water bottle in the ocean
Environment

Up to 11 million tonnes of plastic pollution is sitting on the ocean floor

Pranjal Malewar

Ocean floor a 'reservoir' for plastic pollution, world-first study finds.

A schematic diagram of how fumaric acid is produced from carbon dioxide using solar energy.
Environment

Using artificial photosynthesis to create biodegradable plastics

Ashwini Sakharkar

The system doubles the efficiency of fumaric acid production.

Image showing paper straws
Environment

Paper drinking straws may be Harmful and may not be better for the environment

Pranjal Malewar

Long-lasting forever chemicals, which can cause damaging health issues, found in 18/20 brands of paper straws.

UBC postdoctoral researcher Dr. Tianyu Guo
Environment

Wood dust-based filter removes up to 99.9% of microplastics from water

Ashwini Sakharkar

The filter traps virtually all microplastic particles present in water.

Dafeng coastal salt marshes
Environment

Plastic-eating fungi thriving in plastisphere offer exciting possibilities for tackling global waste

Amit Malewar

Unique ecological niche identified for the first time dubbed ‘terrestrial plastisphere’.

Image showing Flesh-footed shearwaters
Environment

Plasticosis: Scientists found a new disease in birds caused by consuming plastic

Ashwini Sakharkar

While these birds can look healthy on the outside, they're not doing well on the inside.

A handful of microplastics washed ashore at Kamilo Beach, Hawaii.
Environment

Rapid and Unprecedented increase in ocean plastic since 2005 revealed

Editorial Team

A global dataset of ocean plastic pollution between 1979 and 2019 reveals a rapid and unprecedented increase in ocean plastics since 2005, according to...

Small plastic fragments and microplastics
Environment

AWI researchers have analyzed the origins of plastic debris in the Arctic

Ashwini Sakharkar

The findings show that even prosperous industrialised countries make significant contributions.

Sogginess test
Invention

New 100% biodegradable paper straws that do not become soggy

Ashwini Sakharkar

Biodegradable, water-resistant, anti-fizzing, polyester nanocellulose composite paper straws.

The Global Plastic Watch tool, accessible at https://globalplasticwatch.org/.
Environment

Satellites can be used to identify waste sites on Earth

Editorial Team

A new computational system uses satellite data to identify sites on land where people dispose of waste, providing a new tool to monitor waste...

Solar-powered reactor
Technology

A solar-powered system turns plastic and greenhouse gases into a sustainable energy

Ashwini Sakharkar

The system can easily be tuned to produce different products by changing the type of catalyst.

doctor doing a surgery on a patient
Environment

Biodegradable medical gowns introduce harsh greenhouse gas discharge

Ashwini Sakharkar

There’s no magic bullet to this problem.

Image showing plastic cutlery
Invention

Compostable plastic can be turned into an insulating foam

Ashwini Sakharkar

The process is like opening a can of soda and releasing the carbonation.

A modified plastic (left) breaks down after just three days in standard compost (right) and entirely after two weeks
Environment

New way to make compostable plastics break down more easily

Pranjal Malewar

Solving a problem that has flummoxed the plastics industry and environmentalists.

A blue microplastic bead
Environment

Microplastics are more ubiquitous than science had known

Pranjal Malewar

Scientists find microplastics everywhere.

New recycling process could cut down on millions of tons of plastic waste
Environment

New recycling process could cut down millions of tons of plastic waste

Pranjal Malewar

A method for reclaiming the polymers using solvents.

Image showing snow on mount everest
Environment

Scientists found evidence of microplastic pollution on Mount Everest

Pranjal Malewar

The study is a real eye-opener.

Recent Stories

Mystery solved: Why foams are leakier than expected

Chemistry

Multilayered materials that work together, like nacre

Invention

Biodegradable fungi allow trash bags to decompose the organic waste

Invention

Scientists crack the mystery of the “orange fur” in cats

Wildlife

Research reveals how Sculpins use microscopic features to stay put

Wildlife