Improving nature's tools for digesting plastic

Enzymes found in nature can break down certain plastics, but not well enough to support industrial recycling and stem the scourge of plastic waste. Building on what nature has provided, researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic ...

A call to change recycling standards as 3-D printing expands

The 3-D printing revolution has changed the way we think about plastics. Everything from children's toys to office supplies to high-value laboratory equipment can be printed. The potential savings of producing goods at the ...

Cherry picking molecules based on their Pi electrons

Specialized windshield glass, everyday plastic water bottles, and countless other products are based on ethylene, a simple two-carbon molecule, which requires an energy-intense separation process to pluck the desired chemical ...

Plastic bottles solve Nigeria's housing problem

The idea undoubtedly seemed strange at first: take the plastic water bottles that litter Nigeria's roads, canals and gutters and allow people to live inside them.

IBM, Stanford cite advance in plastic recycling (w/ Video)

In a paper published in the American Chemical Society journal, Macromolecules, scientists from IBM and Stanford University detail discoveries that could lead to the development of new types of biodegradable, biocompatible ...

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