Plastic waste
A simple method to break down plastic using air moisture
Plastic recycling gets a breath of fresh air.
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...
A common bacterium can break down plastic for food
This opens new possibilities for bacteria-based engineering solutions to help clean up plastic waste.
New process vaporizes plastic wastes to make new, recycled plastics
The catalytic process efficiently reduces polymers to chemical precursors.
Chemical recycling of PET from both textile and plastic waste mixtures
A novel solution to the plastic waste problem.
National bottle deposit fee can reduce plastic waste dramatically
How to increase the rate of plastic recycling
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.
Upcycling hard-to-recycle plastics into useful material
Rice lab turned wind turbine material into a useful semiconductor.
Plastic-eating fungi thriving in plastisphere offer exciting possibilities for tackling global waste
Unique ecological niche identified for the first time dubbed ‘terrestrial plastisphere’.
Nano-plastics disrupt the growth of the heart, eyes, and nervous system
Malformations in heart, eyes and nervous system.
AWI researchers have analyzed the origins of plastic debris in the Arctic
The findings show that even prosperous industrialised countries make significant contributions.
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...
New way to make compostable plastics break down more easily
Solving a problem that has flummoxed the plastics industry and environmentalists.
Upcycling PET plastic waste into a nanomaterial for supercapacitors
The breakthrough could reduce plastic pollution and hasten the transition to 100% clean energy.
Highest levels of microplastic ever recorded on the seafloor
More than 10 million tons of plastic waste enters the oceans every year. Floating plastic waste at sea has attracted the public's interest on...
How submarine sediment avalanches transport microplastics into the deep ocean?
Much of the macro- and microplastic in the ocean ends up on the seafloor, with some of the highest concentrations reported in submarine canyons...
LEGO bricks could survive in the ocean for up to 1,300 years
The residence times of plastics in the oceans are obscure, mainly as a result of the durability of the material and the moderately short...
We are drinking lots of plastics
The widespread use and release of plastics in nature have raised global concerns about their impact on public health and the environment. The extensive...
Major environmental challenge as microplastics are harming our drinking water
Tiny pieces of plastic break down further during treatment processes, reducing the performance of treatment plants and impacting on water quality.
Marine scientists find toxic bacteria on microplastics retrieved from tropical waters
A field survey conducted by a team of marine scientists from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has uncovered toxic bacteria living on the...
New chemical conversion process turns plastic waste into fuel
Almost 8 million plastics flow into the oceans each year. Plastic waste disposal, whether recycled or thrown away, does not mean the end of the...
Students recycled plastic with self-built waste machines
Students at the University of Twente have developed Precious Plastic Recycling Machines by grinding up plastic waste with a shredder. They are going to present...
Oxford Sustainable Fuels to tackle plastic waste by recycling waste into fuels
A spinout company Oxford Sustainable Fuels (OSF) is being established by Oxford University Innovation based on a technology that can transform waste in the...
Study Finds Most Ocean Pollution Comes From Asian Rivers
Water pollution is a major global problem. It occurs when water contamination bodies mix with water. Water pollution effect entire biosphere involving plant, organisms...
Plastic Waste Can Now Transform Into Petrol, Diesel
Plastic pollution is rising. Every person is responsible for plastic waste. However, some scientists have proved that plastic materials can also be recycled. For...