Plastic waste

A new study is raising concerns over the effects of plastic pollution in our oceans. For the first time researchers investigated how a common ocean bacteria, responsible for producing over 10 percent of oxygen in the atmosphere, is impaired by chemicals that can leach out of plastic products.

The vast majority of plastic waste can’t be recycled, meaning it ends up in landfills or the ocean. To help curb the problem, researchers at Berkeley Lab have now designed a new type of plastic that can apparently be reduced right back to its molecular parts, before being remade over and over.

Some plastics can be recycled relatively easily, others like bubble wrap and stretchy pallet wrap may not be accepted by municipalities. Gomi design studio is looking to do something about that, and has created a portable wireless speaker that's made using recycled flexible plastics.

​​Millions of metric tons of plastic are produced each year and in reality, very little of it is recycled. But what if there were more ways of turning this waste into something valuable, be it new plastics, hydrocarbons or different types of fuel?

Put together by Canadian artist Von Wong, the stunning Strawpocalypse installation features thousands upon thousands of discarded straws arranged as inward facing waves that represent the "parting of the plastic seas."

​In recent years, we've seen a number of research groups develop waterproof adhesives inspired by the fibers that mussels use to cling to rocks. Unfortunately, though, the mussels themselves may be losing their grip on those rocks, due to marine microplastic pollution.

Food and beverage giant Nestlé is ramping up its efforts to rein in plastic pollution, outlining plans to phase out plastic straws and hard plastics as part of a wider plan to use purely recyclable and reusable materials in its products by 2025.

Print Your City, which turned plastic waste into street furniture, has gone from early prototypes to city scale project with the launch of a Zero Waste Lab in Thessaloniki, Greece, where locals can take their plastic waste and have it turned into urban furniture.​

For about 8 years, Above All C6(n) has been designing sustainable structures for use in the construction industry. The firm's most recent project is a temporary shelter made from recycled plastic that's designed for use at music festivals, sporting events or as homeless or crisis accommodation.

​It's no secret that conventional plastic drinking straws are very eco-unfriendly. Manufactured in the billions, they're typically only used once, and then end up in landfills or the ocean. Finnish startup Sulapac is attempting to address the problem, with marine-biodegradable straws.

​Around six weeks have passed since the Ocean Cleanup Project installed its trash-catching system in the Pacific, and it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing for the huge floating barrier so far. The team reports that attempts to overcome some initial teething problems haven’t exactly gone to plan

With the Ocean Cleanup Project's first system entering service in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch one month ago, there are some good signs and some bad, including an apparent inability of the huge floating barrier to retain plastic trash for very long after it is caught.