The United States generates more plastic trash than any other country—about 46.3 million tons of it—or 287 pounds per person a year, according to a 2020 study.
Polymers
Feb 7, 2022
4
535
Plastics are useful, cheap and extremely popular. Global demand has quadrupled in the last forty years and is expected to continue to rise, with correspondingly negative consequences for the environment and human health. ...
Environment
Dec 2, 2021
0
63
In 1950, 2 million metric tons of new plastic was produced globally. In 2018, the world produced 360 million metric tons of plastics. Because of their low cost, durability and versatility, plastics are everywhere—including ...
Materials Science
Nov 30, 2021
0
37
When a fire broke out on the deck of the M/V XPress Pearl cargo ship on May 20, 2021, an estimated 70-75 billion pellets of preproduction plastic material, known as nurdles, spilled into the ocean and along the Sri Lankan ...
Environment
Nov 29, 2021
0
22
Polyurethane is one of the world's most widely used plastic materials, but it's often overlooked in our daily lives. Yet whether you're at home, at work or in your vehicle, it is usually not far away, with common end uses ...
Environment
Nov 19, 2021
0
55
Polyethylene is the most abundantly manufactured plastic in the world. Due to properties like durability, it has many diverse, and even long-term uses. Professor Stefan Mecking's team in the Department of Chemistry at the ...
Materials Science
Oct 28, 2021
0
102
Tap water produces a natural protective shield against harmful microplastics, which can help prevent household products such as plastic kettles from releasing them. That's according to a team of scientists from AMBER, the ...
Other
Oct 22, 2021
0
391
From overflowing landfills to floating garbage islands in the oceans to microplastics in remote wilderness areas, billions of tons of discarded plastic have created a global pollution crisis.
Biochemistry
Oct 14, 2021
0
87
A breakthrough by researchers at the University of South Florida (USF) and collaborating institutions around the world could pave the way for better products, such as improved batteries, automobile paint and cellphone screens.
Polymers
Aug 18, 2021
0
262
Some artists are embracing 3D printing as a new medium, allowing them to create intricate 3D compositions that are difficult to produce in any other way. But the rigid, plastic-based materials used in many 3D printers require ...
Biochemistry
Aug 4, 2021
0
55
