In plants, natural photosynthesis binds carbon dioxide (CO2) to organic compounds, which can then be converted into glucose or starch. These useful molecules can be sequestered, storing the carbon in a solid form. Artificial ...
Biochemistry
Aug 22, 2022
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16
Composting plants process biowaste into finished compost, which ends up as fertilizer in soils. A study by the University of Bayreuth shows that finished compost from composting plants in Germany contains a large number ...
Environment
Jun 29, 2022
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658
Plastic film mulching has been applied globally in various agricultural settings and inevitably disintegrates into microplastics (MPs, which are less than 5 mm in size) due to a series of natural and artificial forces. However, ...
Ecology
Jun 7, 2022
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8
Over one-fifth of all plastic produced worldwide is tossed into uncontrolled dumpsites, burned in open pits or leaked into the environment. In Australia, 1.1 million tonnes of plastic is placed in the market, yet just 16% ...
Environment
Apr 6, 2022
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4
RMIT Ph.D. researcher Mehran Ghasemlou, lead author of the study published in Science of the Total Environment, said the new bioplastic was ideal for fresh food and takeaway packaging.
Biochemistry
Feb 8, 2022
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89
The times in which we live have often been described as "The Plastic Age" for obvious reasons. The invention and widespread adoption of synthetic polymers in the 20th Century as alternatives to wood, ceramics, stone, metals ...
Materials Science
Feb 3, 2022
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20
Given that less than 10 percent of synthetic plastics are recycled, the petroleum-derived, non-biodegradable materials continue to accumulate across the planet, covering stretches of land and the ocean floor. Microplastics ...
Biochemistry
Dec 20, 2021
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205
Once plastic products are used and discarded, they can linger in oceans, collecting in large "garbage patches" and harming sea life. One potential solution, a biodegradable polymer called polylactide (PLA), has so far not ...
Materials Science
Oct 20, 2021
0
24
The idea of biodegradable plastics sounds good at first. However, very little is known about how they are degraded in the soil and how this is influenced by climate change. In two recent studies, soil ecologists at the Helmholtz ...
Environment
Sep 14, 2021
1
45
Bioplastics—biodegradable plastics made from biological substances rather than petroleum—can be created in a more economical and environmentally friendly way from the byproducts of corn stubble, grasses and mesquite agricultural ...
Materials Science
Jun 30, 2021
1
15
