Plastics

Because different polymers have different qualities, multiple types will often be layered together in products such as food packaging. And while such multilayer plastics are currently non-recyclable, a new technique may change that.

Scientists are gaining a clearer picture of how far-reaching plastic pollution might be. The latest discovery in this area comes from high altitude, with researchers uncovering evidence of microplastics just below the summit of Mt Everest.

Often made from plants, recycled material and various forms of organic matter, bioplastics promise a number of advantages over conventional plastics produced through fossil fuels, but a new study suggests that safety may not be one of them.

Scientists in Japan have produced a plastic with the highest heat resistance ever reported, and done so by using natural materials as the building blocks, paving the way toward greener production for the omnipresent material.

Two of the problems with traditional plastics are the facts that they're made from non-renewable petroleum, and they stick around for centuries once discarded. A new alternative, however, is made from existing waste, and should biodegrade in a year.

While it's possible to 3D-print plastic or metal items, printing single items made of both is quite difficult. Scientists have developed a method of doing so, however, that may lead to increased production of 3D-printed electronics.

Back in 2018, scientists made the key discovery of a bacterium with a natural appetite for PET plastics. Scientists have now used this bacterium as the basis for a newly engineered “super-enzyme” that can digest plastic waste at six times faster.

Scientists investigating more eco-friendly forms of plastic production have made an exciting breakthrough, with the discovery of a bacterial system that generates one of the material's key building blocks through its natural metabolic process.

What kind of threat can tiny plastic fragments pose to the health of living organisms? Scientists have turned to human tissue for answers, and discovered evidence of plastic fragments in every single sample they studied.

Scientists have developed a new method to detect trace amounts of plastic in edible tissues, and tried it out on a range of seafood such as oysters, prawns, squid, crabs and sardines to find plastic particles in all samples tested.

Scientists have begun to uncover evidence of how the digestive systems of certain animals can play a part in plastic fragmentation, with the latest concerning a small crustacean that can turn microplastics into “nanoplastics” in just four days.

Scientists have long hoped to give plastic conductive properties by adding extra materials, and one team of researchers has now put forward a promising possibility its hoped could find uses in large touchscreens or window-mounted solar cells.