Enzyme breaks down PET plastic in record time

Plastic bottles, punnets, wrap—lightweight packaging made of PET plastic becomes a problem if it is not recycled. Scientists at Leipzig University have now discovered a highly efficient enzyme that degrades PET in record ...

Bottled water sales rose globally as pandemic took hold

Families in some of the poorest parts of the world turned to buying bottled water as the pandemic sent countries into lockdown, with larger chunks of incomes being spent on drinking water, SciDev.Net analysis shows.

A new class of catalysts for environmentally-friendly coatings

Chemists from Konstanz have developed a new class of catalysts that enable manufacturing of polyethylene dispersions directly in water. This opens up perspectives for the environmentally-friendly, solvent-free production ...

Use of metal-organic frameworks to degrade plastics

What if the life cycle of the plastic bottle was circular? Where a used plastic bottle was returned to its original components, ready to be made into a new plastic bottle instead of possibly ending up in a landfill.

Treasured trash: UK waste gets new lease of life

From facial scrubs using coffee grounds to clothes made from plastic bottles and furniture decorated with agave fibres, efforts to upcycle or repurpose waste products are gaining traction in Britain.

Pandemic saw sales of bottled water dip in Asia Pacific

Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 caused a decline in the sales of bottled water across the Asia Pacific region during 2020, according to a study by the global market research firm, Euromonitor International.

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