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Plastic pollution

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West Virginia University

Student discovers microplastics in every fish from central Appalachian streams

Each fish contained an average of 40 pieces of microplastics.

Young woman blowing pink bubble gum

Chewing Gum: Hidden source of Microplastics in your saliva

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

New biodegradable material dissolves in ocean water

Tackling the problem of microplastics

Plastic and plastic bag

A simple method to break down plastic using air moisture

Plastic recycling gets a breath of fresh air.

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

New biodegradable material to replace the plastic beads

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

Mealworms

Can mealworms be the solution to our microplastic problem?

Mealworms are Nature’s scavengers and decomposers.

black plastic recycling

Researchers use sunlight to recycle black plastic

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

Yellow-nosed Albatross

How do penguins and albatrosses find their food?

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

researchers

New tool tells how much microplastic you are drinking in minutes

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.

Lasers could help solve the world’s plastic problem

This discovery has significant implications for addressing environmental challenges.

scientist with medical gloves inspecting micro plastics

Scientists detected 23 types of microplastics in the testicular tissue

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

Galápagos penguin

The impact of microplastics on the Galápagos Islands Food Web

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

Environmental pollution of plastic water bottle in the ocean

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

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.

Using artificial photosynthesis to create biodegradable plastics

The system doubles the efficiency of fumaric acid production.

Image showing paper straws

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

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

UBC postdoctoral researcher Dr. Tianyu Guo

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

The filter traps virtually all microplastic particles present in water.

Dafeng coastal salt marshes

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

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

Image showing Flesh-footed shearwaters

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

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.

Rapid and Unprecedented increase in ocean plastic since 2005 revealed

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

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

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

Sogginess test

New 100% biodegradable paper straws that do not become soggy

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

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

Satellites can be used to identify waste sites on Earth

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

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

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

Image showing plastic cutlery

Compostable plastic can be turned into an insulating foam

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

New way to make compostable plastics break down more easily

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

A blue microplastic bead

Microplastics are more ubiquitous than science had known

Scientists find microplastics everywhere.

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