Plastic

The James Dyson Award is an international competition to encourage students to get creative to solve the world's pressing problems. The national finalists have been announced for 2021, showcasing ideas that help people and the environment.

The Ocean Cleanup Project has made a significant tweak to its design, switching from a passive device to one powered by active propulsion, which the team sees as a far more efficient and effective way of removing plastic waste from the ocean.

A new study paints a startling picture of how the evolutionary habits of juvenile turtles lure them into the most polluted parts of the ocean, demonstrated by the discovery of plastic in the stomachs of young turtles around the coast of Australia.

A new material from researchers in Spain and Portugal serves as another compelling example of bioactive plastic, making use of extracts from mango leaves to fend off food pathogens and ultraviolet light.

By tweaking the process by which plastic is made, scientists hope to offer functional forms of it that safely and naturally degrade in just a fraction of the time. And recent breakthroughs suggest such a future might not be all that far away.

Scientists in Austria have discovered a set of enzymes in the stomach fluid of cows that can break down common plastics used in textiles and packaging, offering another potential tool in the efforts to combat this environmental problem.

Scientists at the University of Edinburgh have taken plastic recycling technology into new territory, demonstrating how an engineered form of E. coli bacteria can be used to turn plastic bottles in vanillin, the primary compound of vanilla flavoring.

A new chemical treatment developed by scientists at Washington State University could help chip away at our plastic pollution problem, by turning the most commonly used plastic into jet fuel components within one hour.

Modern scientific techniques are rapidly improving our understanding of how plastic pollution can impact marine organisms, and a new study has demonstrated how they can also be used to understand the plight of creatures past.

Most plastics don’t break down easily – and when they do, they create problematic microplastic particles. A new type of compostable plastic is embedded with enzymes that, when triggered, quickly break the material down to its constituent molecules.

Researchers at Yale University have developed a bioplastic made using wood byproducts. The material boasts high strength and durability, but also has the ability to degrade completely in the space of just three months.

Microplastics are increasingly found polluting waterways and causing unknown damage to the health of animals and humans. Now, a new study provides evidence there's cross over with another looming public health threat – antibiotic-resistant superbugs.